Three
by Lostlily
Summary: 14 years ago…on three different nights…in three different villages…three children were born. Each of these children was burdened with the spirits of youkai… [finally updated, yay]
1. prologue

**A/N**: Well, I'm sure you've all heard this before, but I'm going to say it anyways: this is my first Naruto fanfic. I'm not too sure if it'll be good or not, but I just have to get it out of my head. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not and never will own Naruto or any of the characters from the anime/manga.

**Translations**:

youkai: demon

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**Three **

_by: Lostlily_

**Prologue**

**14 years ago…on three different nights…in three different villages…three children were born. Each of these children was burdened with the spirits of youkai…**

**-----One was to be praised as a hero…-----**

_-Hidden Village of the Leaf-_

A small blonde infant cries as he lies in blankets, surrounded by candles. Outside, a fierce battle ends as The Fourth Hokage seals the vicious Nine-Tails Demon. The demon finds himself encased with the fragile body of the crying infant. The mark of the seal fades into view on the babe's round tummy as whisker-like marks appears upon his young cheeks. The Fourth's dying wish was that this brave little one was seen as a hero.

**-----The other was to be the ultimate shinobi…-----**

_-Hidden Village of the Sand-_

A red-haired infant lies on the ground, sand eerily swirling around him. Nearby lay the lifeless form of the woman who birthed him. Before her death, the woman cursed the child as her life's blood slowly escaped her body. The Kazekage noted with satisfaction that he was successful in attaching the demonic incarnation of sand to his newly born son. His village will be strong now that he's created the ultimate shinobi.

**-----The last was to be used as revenge…-----**

_-Hidden Village of the Cloud-_

A tiny, pale infant with soft, dark locks lets out a soft whimper of distress as the enraged shinobi carries her in to the forbidden temple that held the sealed Kuroneko. He laid the child upon the altar and picked up the forbidden scroll, then swiftly proceeded to possess the innocent one with the spirit of the demon. Just as he completed his task, the Raikage enters the temple, taking in the whole scene from his small daughter to the scroll to the treacherous ninja that had kidnapped her. Before he died, the traitor smirked at the great revenge that he ensued upon the Raikage.

**-----As each babe grew into childhood, they found themselves jeered at…-----**

The small blonde child looks down, fighting tears as the adults and children around him stare with coldness in their eyes.

**-----Feared…-----**

The fiery haired boy picks up a stray ball and offers it to the children playing with it, only to find them staring at him with horror before they quickly flee away from him.

**-----And most of all...Hated…-----**

The pretty little black-haired girl runs down an empty alley, sobbing fearfully, as several older boys chase her, throwing rocks and hateful words.

**Three different lives cursed with three different purposes…will soon find their destinies entwined. **

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**A/N**: Well, what do you think? Should I continue? Pls. Review.


	2. chapter 1

**A/N**: Wow, thank you for the reviews. I just wanted to make this clear now. This takes place about roughly a year after the Sound and Sand attacked the Leaf village. They should be about 14 y/o. Oh and Sasuke never left with the Sound-nins. Hmm…yeah, that's pretty much it. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Disclaimer**: sorry, I don't own Naruto.

**Warning**: spoilers will come as the story progresses.

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**Three**

_By: Lostlily_

**Chapter One**

-_Sand Village_-

It was a quiet night. A warm breeze flowed across the endless stretch of sand. It gently ruffled the fiery hair of the solitaire person sitting on the swing of an old playground. If one were to listen carefully, they could almost hear the voices of the past echoing around this place.

'_Ga…Gaara…' _

_'It's Gaara of the Sand!!' _

_'RUN FOR IT!!' _

_' AHHH!!' _

Gaara closed his eyes as memories ran through his mind, he remembered how he used to sit on this very swing, watching other children play with each other. He slowly opened his eyes to gaze up at the full moon. Every night, he would come here to silently stare up at the night sky. It was something that he had started doing ever since his siblings brought him back from the Leaf Village. As he gazed, his thoughts always turned to the battle he had with _him_….Uzumaki Naruto.

He remembered the words he told him and the look of understanding in his cerulean eyes.

_'Those eyes…they seemed to recognize something deep within me. They saw, not Gaara of the Sand, but the Gaara behind the mask. He completely understood the pain and the loneliness that I've been through,'_ He thought to himself. _'He definitely is a maelstrom because I feel myself getting sucked into his words every time I think of that day.'_ He whispered softly, "I want to know more…"

He suddenly looked down as a worn, leather kickball rolled up to him. His gaze then shifted in the direction of where the ball came and finally rested upon a cloaked figure standing three yards away. He was surprised that he had not sensed the stranger's presence. Gaara slowly stood, ready for any attack that might come his way.

The stranger shifted slightly and Gaara found a pair of dark, blue-violet eyes staring into his own faded green ones. He thought to himself with shock, _'Those eyes…they have the same look as _**_his_**_…'_ Then he heard a soft voice break the silence.

"Konbanwa, Gaara. I'm glad we finally get to meet."

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Team 7 found themselves in a village right on the border between the Wind Country and the Fire Country. Since the village lay between the two countries, many different people, commoner and shinobi alike were always seen passing through. Team 7 was sent there to meet up with a representative from the Hidden Sand Village to exchange some important documents. It was decided that they meet in a tavern for the exchange.

The team sat in a corner booth near the back of the establishment. Kakashi, seemingly relaxed yet always prepared, was reading his favorite book, 'Icha Icha Paradise'. Sasuke stared down at his cup of tea, brooding silently. Sakura was trying, very persistently, to get Sasuke to talk to her. Naruto, fidgeting like a small child, eagerly watched the different people that came and went. After waiting for an hour, Naruto sighed loudly, "Where is he? I'm so bored!! ARGH!!!"

Without lifting his gaze from his book, Kakashi replied, "Don't worry, Naruto, he'll be here."

Sakura frowned at the loudmouth blond, "You should learn how to be more patient. It's a quality that all ninjas should have," she smilef sweetly at Sasuke, "Ne, Sasuke-kun?" The only response she got was, "Hn." Naruto crossed his arms and slouched in his seat as he sulked.

Ten minutes later, Kakashi put his book away as a shinobi, wearing a Sand forehead protector approached their table, "He's here." The exchange of documents was brief and words were rarely said. Before the Sand-nin departed, he said, "The new Kazekage would like the Hokage to know how grateful he is that the alliance between the two villages has been reestablished and that he dearly hopes that our two villages will become great allies." Then he bowed and left.

The team stood and walked out of the tavern, heading for the motel they were staying in for the night. Halfway there, Naruto's stomach growled loudly. Rubbing his tummy, he quickly glanced around and spotted a ramen stand. "Oi, I'm hungry! Let's go eat some ramen," he said as his stomach grumbled again.

Kakashi gave a light shrug, "There's something I have to do, but you three can go ahead and eat." Then he was gone.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto climbed onto three stools and ordered their ramen. Sakura moved close to Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun, let's go out on a date when we get back home."

Without looking at her, he replied curtly, "No." Not missing a beat, Naruto said cheerfully, "I'll go out with you, Sakura-chan!" Next thing he knew, he found himself sporting a very sore cheek. Their orders arrived and they began to eat.

As Naruto slurped up his ramen hungrily, two Sand shinobi sat a stool away from him. He didn't pay them much attention until he heard one of them say quietly, "Did you hear? The old Kazekage's son disappears a week ago."

The other ninja replied, "Which one?"

"The creepy one."

The three Leaf genin froze in their seats as they overheard this. Naruto frowned slightly as he thought to himself, _'Gaara?'_

"Ah, if he doesn't appear soon, the elders will mark him down as a missing-nin."

"I say good riddance. He was too dangerous anyways."

"Hmm, I heard that he was keeping to himself since that battle at the Leaf Village last year."

Naruto opened his mouth, ready to start asking the older ninjas some questions, when he suddenly felt someone grip his arm. He turned and found himself looking into Sasuke's dark eyes. The young Uchiha said quietly, "Don't say a word." The blond glareed at his rival as he jerked his arm away from the fierce grip. The two Sand-nin picked up their orders and walked off, talking about something else.

The three payed for their ramen, then quietly exited the stand, walking towards their motel. Sakura shivered slightly and hugged herself as the Sand ninjas' conversation rans through her mind. "They were talking about Gaara, ne?" Sasuke gave a brief nod.

"Ano sa, what do you think happened to him? Why would he just disappear like that?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke looked up at the night sky, "I don't know, but I have feeling that we're going to know soon."

Sakura nibbled on her lower lip nervously, "Maybe we should tell Kakashi-sensei what we heard tonight."

"Aa," Was what she got in reply.

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Two figures stood with the shadows, watching the small team walk off. Their attention was mainly focused on the whiskered genin.

"Uzumaki Naruto…"

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**A/N:** Hmm…this took me a while to write down and I'm still not satisfied with it. I'm sure everyone is curious about who the third child is and I promise that you'll find out soon. Right now, I'm just setting up the players. Plz review! Arigato!!


	3. chapter 2

**A/N:** whoa, my brain feels so fried. finals are coming up and all I can do is study, study, study. oh yeah, thanks a bundle for the reviews. reading them makes me wanna write more, hehe. I'm trying to get these chapters written as fast as I can. oh well, I hope you enjoy this one.

**Disclaimer:** sorry, don't own Naruto, wish I did, but I don't.

**Translations:**

Kyuubi: Nine-Tails-Fox Youkai

kozou: kid (slang)

nani: what

dobe: dead last, loser

chikuso: dammit

iie: no

hai: yes

kawaii: cute

gomen nasai: I'm sorry

sankyu: thank you

eto/ano: umm, uh

yuri: lily

kunoichi: female ninja

yosh: alright!

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**Three**

_by: Lostlily_

**Chapter 2**

_Drip....Drip.....Drip...Naruto slowly stood. Water? This place...he's been here before. He looked around the dark, water-filled halls. He entered one of the shadowed doors, splashing through the water, yet strangely he wasn't feeling it. The young genin knew this place. As he neared his destination, he could feel the heavy red chakra become stronger and stronger. _

_He could hear his heartbeat in his ears thumping away...bump-bump...bump-bump...Barred doors come into view. He could clearly see the seal that kept them closed. He remembered last time he was here. A dark chuckle comes from the darkness behind the bars, a familiar chuckle. _

_He raised his blue eyes to the piercing red ones, staring at him. Bump-bump..bump bump...bumpbumpbumpbumpbump...his heartbeat quickens. Clenching his hands into fists, he murmured quietly, "Kyuubi..."_

_The dark voice rumbled with faint amusement, "So, kozou, you've come to me again."_

_Naruto asked hesitantly, "Do...Do you know why I'm here?"_

_"Ah...you haven't notice it yet. Can't you feel it? They're coming for you."_

_"N-Nani!? Who's coming for me?" Naruto's fists started shaking as the youkai laughed darkly._

_"You'll see..."_

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Naruto jerked awake, sitting up quickly. Sweat trickled down the sides of his face as his chest heaved with his panting breathes. He placed his hand on his chest, grasping at his shirt as he tried to calm his racing heart. A dream? He wasn't sure.

He looked down, wondering what it all meant. The Kyuubi said they were coming for him, but who are _they_? He turned his gaze to the window of his small motel room. The sky was barely beginning to brighten with the new morning light. He let out a sigh as he pushed the blankets asides and stood. Might as well start the day...no way he was going back to sleep after that weird dream.

Three hours later, Team 7 was on the road, heading back for the Hidden Leaf Village. They were all quiet as they walked, surprisingly even Naruto. Sakura thought back to last night when they told their sensei about what they overheard from the Sand-nin. Kakashi had just shrugged and told them not to worry about it and that it was probably just a rumor. She thought to herself, _'A rumor? I very much doubt it. Is Kakashi-sensei hiding something from us? Where did he go last night?'_

Sasuke kept glancing at Naruto, feeling disturbed by his strange silence. _'What's wrong with him? He's been like this all morning.' _Finally he said, "Oi, Dobe. What's with you today? You're not acting like yourself."

Roused from his thoughts, Naruto blinked, then rubbed the back of his head and gave one of his closed eye laughs, "Haha...I don't know what you mean, Sasuke, I'm perfectly fine, really!" Sasuke stared at Naruto with surprise, '_He didn't even react from my _dobe_ comment.' _

Grinning, Naruto quickened his pace moving to the front of the group. Once his back was towards them, his eyes slowly open and his grin faded into a more troubled expression. _'What did that dream mean? Who's coming for me?' _He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't even realize that the others were looking at him with concern.

Two days of traveling later, the team finally reached the Leaf Village. With a simple "Ja ne!" Kakashi poofed away and Sasuke just headed off without a word. Sakura waved goodbye before she trailed after Sasuke asking for a date. Naruto watched his teammates walk away for a moment, then turned and headed for the training ground where he had earned the name of genin. As he walked, he could feel the cold stares of some of the people he passed by. His gaze lowered to the ground as their whispers reach his ears.

_"Look, it's that kid."_

_"The one who has that **thing** inside of him, right?"_

_"Hai. I don't know why they let him become a shinobi."_

_"Don't go near him, he's dangerous."_

Naruto broke into a run, not stopping until he reached the training ground. Fighting back tears of anger, hate and pain, he started punching one of the posts. THUMP "Chikuso!" THUMP "Why!?" THUMP "Why do they still look at me like that?" THUMP "Why can't they see that I'm not Kyuubi?" THUMP "I'm not _him_...I'm Naruto!!" THUMP "Why can't they see?" THUMP "I'm Naruto..." He stopped punching and moved forward until his forehead rested against the post. Brokenly his whispered, "I'm...Naruto..."

A couple of hours later, Naruto was still at the training ground, sitting against the post he was punching earlier. He had taken his forehead protector off and was now gazing down at it, then he sighed softly. Suddenly a lily flower appeared in front of his face and he let out a cry of surprise. Slowly his eyes started to travel from the flower to the pale hand holding it, then up the slender arm that eventually lead to a kind face. He found himself staring into a pair of blue-violet eyes that seemed almost cat-like in appearance. Then he took in the whole image before him. Black hair midway down the back, facial features so well put together that he felt his cheeks flush slightly, a slender form clad in a dark purple chinese shirt, black drawstring pants, and black sandals. The only thought that popped up in his head was, _'She's so kawaii!'_

The girl, who seemed to be the same age as him, knelt down in front of him, a smile of apology upon her soft lips as she said softly, "Gomen nasai, I didn't mean to scare you. You looked so lonely sitting there and I just thought you could use some cheering up."

Naruto gave an embarrassed laugh as he accepted the flower from her, "Sankyu." The girl smiled happily. It was then that it suddenly hit him, why didn't he sense her approaching him? He gazed at her thoughtfully, "Are you a ninja?"

The girl tilted her head slightly, "Hai, a genin."

"Ah, so that's why I didn't sense you coming towards me."

"But aren't you a ninja as well?"

"Eto..." (;)

The girl giggled, "It's ok, I'm just very good at sneaking around. Ano...may I ask what your name is?"

"Heh, it's Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hmm...It's nice to meet you...Naruto-kun," the female shinobi murmured as she stared at him with slight smile. Naruto felt strange about the way she said his name. It was as if she were greeting an old friend rather than making a new acquaintance. He felt himself blush from her staring, so he looked down at the flower in his hand.

"Yuri."

Naruto glanced at her with confusion, "Eh? I already know what kind of flower this is." The girl laughed softly, "Iie, that's not what I meant. My name is Yuri."

"Ah, like this flower."

"Hai."

He studied her for moment, wondering why he's never seen her before. It was strange. She seemed to be the same age as him, yet he didn't remember seeing her at the academy. "Ano...Yuri-san, did you just become a genin?"

"Iie, I've been a genin for about a year now," her gaze wandered to the setting sun, "Just like you..." Naruto blinked with surprise. How was that possible? When he became a genin, there were only nine rookies who earned the title and Yuri wasn't one of them. He was starting to get an uneasy feeling about this girl. Who was she? Was she even from the village? Was she a some sort of spy? Naruto got to his feet as Yuri watched from the corner of her eye.

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded after he put his forehead protector back on. Yuri slowly stands and faces him. She stared at him for moment, then let out a soft sigh, "I told you, my name is Yuri."

Blue eyes narrowed, "You're not from this village, are you?" The young kunoichi shook her head, then took a step toward him, causing him to back up into the post. "You don't have to worry, I'm not a spy or anything."

A trickle of sweat slid down a whisker-marked cheek, "If you're not here to spy, then why are you here?" He began to perspire more as Yuri moved until she was right in his face with a strange smile on her lips.

"I'm here for you."

"N-nani?"

"I've been looking for you...Uzumaki Naruto."

The boy gulped nervously as he stared at the slightly shorter girl before him. Looking for him? Why? Then it hit him, Kyuubi's words began to echo in his mind, _'They're coming for you...'_ This girl, was she the one that Kyuubi was talking about?

Yuri suddenly stepped away from him, her eyes glancing to the side briefly before looking back to him, "You and I are the same. When he comes, everything will be clear. I promise." She smiled at him one last time, then she was gone, leaving the young ninja standing there with a shocked expression on his face.

That's how Iruka found him when he entered the clearing a minute later. He had gone searching for his former student when he didn't show up at the ramen bar this evening. The worried chuunin had checked the boy's apartment, only to find that he never returned there after coming back from his mission, so off he went to locate the boy. He slowly approached Naruto, wondering why he had such a strange expression on his young face.

"Naruto?" The boy blinked, then looked up at his former sensei. "Eh? Iruka-sensei! Eto...W-why are you here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I was going to treat you to ramen today, remember?"

"Hehe...gomen, I forgot," the young ninja says as he rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment. The man just smiled warmly at his young friend, "Well, we still have to time to go if you'd like." Naruto pounced on him as he blabberd happily about ramen.

It was then that Iruka noticed the white flower on the ground. He picked it up and looked at it, "Eh? Where did this come from? This kind of flower doesn't grow around here." Naruto's eyes widened, then he quickly snatched the flower away as he said nervously, "A-ano...It's just something that I got from the village we had our mission in."

Iruka studied the boy for moment, knowing that he was lying, but not sure why. He decided to let him keep his secrets. If anything was wrong, he would tell him, right? He placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, "Let's go get that ramen."

Naruto sighed with relief before he punched his fist in the air and yelled out, "YOSH!"

Iruka's laughter echoed around as they both head for the village.

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Yuri stood on a high branch, watching as Naruto left with the young man just as the sun disappeared. A figure appeared on the branch above the one she was standing on. Quietly, she said, "I don't understand. Why does he look so happy now? Those villagers were so cruel to him earlier. Who is that man?"

_"It's someone who's deceiving the boy. He's just pretending to like him because he fears the Kyuubi's powers."_

Yuri frowned slightly, "But that look in his eyes when he looked at Naruto...it didn't look like fear."

_"You're still young, you haven't fully seen how deceptive the world can be. Naruto can't see it as well. We must free him from this place so that he can be with kindred spirits like you and Gaara. You only have each in a world that's against shinobi's like you."_

The young girl clencheed her hands into fists, a coldness settled in her eyes, making them darker, "Hai...we only have each other. We have to free him from this place where everyone hates him."

_"Once you do that, you three we gain the strength to crush those who have hurt you."_

Yuri lifted her gaze to sky as the stars began to awaken, the coldness in her eyes fading a bit as a touch of sadness and uncertainty crept in, then she murmured a bit hesitantly, "H-hai..."

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**A/N:** well, there you have it, another chapter finished and I've finally introduced the third child. I'm thinking of diving into her past in the next chapter. you know, just so ya get to know the poor girl better. hmm...tell me what ya think of the story so far, plz review! ja ne!!


	4. chapter 3

**A/N**: well, here you have it people...chapter 3! once again, thank you for all the reviews, I'm glad you're enjoying the story. of course, it's starting to get a bit complicated now, but hopefully you'll still like it. oh and I gave all you Gaara lovers a lil dose of the sand-nin in this chapter, so read on!

**Disclaimer:** like I've said before...don't own Naruto

**Translations:**

konbanwa: good evening

aniki/onii-chan: big brother

okaa-san: mother

Shukaku: the badger demon within Gaara

taijutsu: hand to hand combat

ninjutsu: powerful jutsu (i.e. summoning)

Ero-Senin: it's what Naruto calls Jiraiya, ero means pervert and senin means hermit

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**Three**

_by: Lostlily_

**Chapter 3**

_-Hidden Sand Village-_

Gaara sat at the foot of his bed, staring down at the ground. He'd been in his room for while now, thankful for the privacy and silence it provided. He'd been getting irritated with Temari, Kankuro, and even Baki-sensei. They had been questioning him about where he had been for the last week and a half. They had stopped when he gave them all a dirty look, but he knew that they would start up again soon, that's why he was sitting here in his room. He just needed time to himself so that he could think. Soon enough, his thoughts strayed to the night he disappeared.

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_A week and a half earlier_

"Konbanwa, Gaara. I'm glad we finally get to meet."

Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly, his body was tense, ready to summon his destructive sand, "Who are you?"

The cloaked figure reached up and pushed her hood back, revealing long, raven hair; a pale, oval face with cat-like blue-violet eyes, and a small smile upon soft lips. The young kunoichi looked to be about the same age as the sand-nin, but that didn't make him relax his guard. If anything, he tensed up even more when he spotted the forehead protector tied around her neck. She was a cloud shinobi.

The girl gave a slight bow and said, "My name is Yuri and I have been very eager to meet you."

"Have you come here to assassinate me?"

"Iie, I have come because I wanted to meet someone who was like me."

Gaara frowned with confusion at her words. _'Like her? What did she mean?'_ Then he found himself looking into her eyes again. _'Those eyes...they're like **his** eyes...they are like mine...' _A sharp pain started to come from the kanji on his forehead. He grasped his head as he asked himself, _'Why?'_ He asked her, "Wh-Who are you?"

Yuri studied him a moment, still giving that small smile, then said, "Come with me and I will explain everything." With that simple statement, she turned and walked off.

He watched the girl's retreating back for minute, then Gaara put on his gourd and followed the girl. They walked together in silence until they reached the next village which was close to the hidden shinobi village. The village was small and everyone was peacefully resting in their little huts. Yuri led him to a hut far away from the others and silently entered it. Gaara stopped for a moment at the doorway, then he entered.

The place was empty except for a small fire pit near the back, a neat stack of futons and blankets, a small table, water pitcher, and some cups. Yuri lit a fire in the pit, then knelt at the table and gestured for Gaara to do the same. Quietly he sat, facing her, then took his gourd off and set it next him. The young cloud-nin calmly rested her hands on her lap as she began to speak.

"Like I have said before, my name is Yuri. As you can see, I am a shinobi from the Hidden Cloud Village. Actually, I am a genin like you," She paused for bit, then continued, "And like you, there is something within me that sets me far apart from others. That is why we are the same, you and I." She looked down at the table top, a sad note in her voice, "I know what it feels like to watch others and know that I can never be like them...that I'll always see the hate and fear in their eyes." The young girl looked him in the eye, "I know what it's like to be alone."

'She's...like me,' was the only thought that went through Gaara's mind. Yuri paused again, then continued.

"I heard tales about a genin from the Hidden Sand Village that was greatly feared by others. I found out his name was Gaara of the Sand...you. The rumors floating around the Thunder country was that you've killed many people who've crossed your path. In fact, I almost didn't believe it when I heard that the Sand and Sound failed to overtake the Leaf Village during the final Chuunin exam last year. With you fighting for the Sand, how could they lose?" She looked at him thoughtfully, "But there was a genin that you never thought you would find there, ne?"

Gaara uttered the name softly, "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hai. I've learned that he shares the same secret as we do. The same pain."

"Iie, he's different. He beat me because he was stronger and he has something that I don't have."

Yuri frowned with confusion, "He does?"

"He has...precious people that he fights for and because he fights for them...he's stronger," The red-haired boy slowly said. Yuri said a bit hesitantly, "He has...important people? I...I don't understand..."

"There's nothing to understand, Yuri, Naruto is just confused," A deep voice said from the doorway. Gaara turned in that direction, wondering if this was a trap.

Yuri said with surprise, "Akuma-anki! I didn't know you were going to be here tonight."

The man, who was wearing a face mask that concealed the lower half of his face and who Yuri called "brother", stepped into the small hut. His dark hair hung rakishly over his Cloud forehead protector as his magenta eyes focused on Gaara. Like Yuri, he also wore a black cloak, which covered the loose black shirt and black pants he wore underneath. He casually leaned against the wall, crossing his arms as he studied the young sand genin before him, "So, this is the great Gaara of the Desert, ne?" Gaara's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Yuri noticed the look in Gaara's eyes, so she said quickly to avoid confrontation, "H-hai, this is him. Ano...Gaara, this is Akuma. Akuma-aniki isn't my real brother, but he saved me from those who were being cruel to me. He also helped me find out that there were others like me." She smiled warmly, "He helped me find you."

The boy glared at the man for another minute, then finally said, "What do you want with me?"

Akuma quietly said, "How would you like to be able to control that demon within you? To not have to fear him taking you over at any moment."

"Is that possible?" Gaara asked, tensely, totally disbelieving what the cloud-nin just said.

"Hai, there's a way to control the youkai's powers and to use them as your own. There's a forbidden scroll in possession of a certain organization that makes such a thing possible, but the only problem is that this organization is made up of extremely skilled and deadly shinobi. The only ones who have any chance against such shinobi are you, Yuri, and...Naruto."

Gaara looked down, deep in thought, _'A chance to control the youkai within me? To not have to fear losing myself...' _He never slept for fear that Shukaku would completely take over and Gaara himself would be lost forever. Now he was presented with an opportunity to rid himself of his fear. He glanced up to see Yuri gazing at him anxiously, then he looked at Akuma, uttering one word, "Alright."

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_-Present-_

Gaara stood and walked to the window, watching the people interact below. The following week after that night he met Yuri and Akuma was spent on finding the headquarters of the organization Akuma spoke of. They found some promising information and after that, Gaara found himself and Yuri keeping watch over a certain blond shinobi who happen to be in the same village as them. They all agreed that Gaara would return to the Hidden Sand Village so that he wouldn't be considered as a missing-nin and Yuri would follow the Leaf ninja to welcome him into their fold.

Upon returning, he immediately went to the Kazekage to tell him he was taking a temporary leave of his shinobi duties. His 'request' was quickly acknowledged since the old fool, like everyone else in the village, feared him. He went home only to be confronted by his siblings and soon after, Baki-sensei started questioning him. Things between him and his siblings seemed to have changed a bit this past year. Yet deep inside, he knew they still feared that the thing inside of him would let loose and destroy them all. For that reason, he was determined to gain control over Shukaku.

He turned away from the window and started to pack. He was heading for the Hidden Leaf Village tonight and now he won't have to worry about being counted as a missing-nin. He tied his gourd onto his back, then picked up his bag. Just as he was about to leave, he paused by the table where two picture frames stood. One was a picture of his mother and the other was a picture of him with his siblings. It was something Temari forced her brothers to take with her. It showed Gaara standing in the middle with his arms crossed, Kankuro on the right with a frown, and Temari on the left, with a small smirk. He stared at the pictures for a long while, then he picked one up and slipped it into his bag, then he left.

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-_Hidden Leaf Village-_

Yuri sat atop the monument of the Fourth Hokage, staring down at the bustling village below. She closed her eyes and lifted her face up towards the sun, enjoying its warmth. The sun didn't shine so clearly in the Hidden Cloud Village, so it was rare for her to feel the sun like this. She opened her eyes and looked down at the village again, lost in thought, _'Gaara should be here by tomorrow and Akuma-aniki said he'll meet up with us as soon as he locates the headquarters of that organization. Hopefully, Naruto will be with us by that time.' _She let out a soft sigh, then gets to her feet. As nimble as a cat, she leapt from rock to rock until she reached the base of the Hokage monuments.

She began to stroll through the hidden village. Glancing here and there, she noticed how new most of the buildings look. '_Hmm, they probably had a lot of rebuilding to do after the attack last year.'_ She paused as she spotted some small kids playing. A short distance away stood a little girl watching sadly. Yuri suddenly remembered another girl from the past with the same look of sadness in her eyes.

_-flashback-_

_A six-year-old Yuri stood off to the side watching the other kids play ninja games. Gathering all her courage, she slowly approached the laughing group. The kids grew quiet when they notice her nearing them. Fiddling with the hem of her shirt nervously, she asked timidly, "Can I play with you guys?" They stare at her for a while, then they start to whisper amongst themselves. _

_Finally, a girl steps in front of the group and said, "Iie. My Okaa-san told me not to go near you." A boy speaks up as well, "Hai, my Onii-chan says you're a monster!" The others nod with agreement, then they turn their backs on her and run off to continue playing their games._

_Little Yuri watches the group of children go away, their words echoing in her mind. Then she fell to her knees and coverd her face with her hands as she began to sob brokenly. Rain began to fall as the sky above wept along with the little girl._

_-end flashback-_

"Rika!" A small green-haired girl called out, bringing Yuri back from her memories. She watched as the green-haired girl rans up to the little girl that was standing alone and took her hand, making her smile.

Yuri's face grew blank as the two little girls joined the other kinds in their play. _'That's right. They're not like me. They don't know what it's like to be rejected and alone.'_ Turning away from the sight of the happily playing children, she continued her walk through the peaceful village, not noticing how the sky suddenly began to darken with clouds.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto tiredly walked through the streets of Konoha, heading for the ramen bar. He wasn't really hungry, but he unconsciously went towards it out of habit. He had just finished a grueling training session with his team. Kakashi was making them improve upon their taijutsu. Personally, Naruto would rather learn some new ninjutsu from the Ero-Senin, but Jiraiya had left a couple of months ago to work on his next _Icha Icha Paradise_ book.

But training wasn't on his mind right now. The moment Kakashi dismissed them for the day, Naruto left with an absentminded wave goodbye, his thoughts already on the day before and girl he had met. He took a glance at the sky, maybe hoping for some answers to just fall in his lap. He frowned as he noticed the clouds covering the sun, '_That's weird...the sky was so clear a minute ago.' _He shook his head and continued his journey to the ramen bar.

Once reaching his favorite place, his ducked under the curtain and took a seat at one of the stools. The old man behind the counter looked at the young teenager, "Ah, Naruto, which kind of ramen will you be having today?" Naruto blinked, then said, "Eh? I think I'll just have a cup of tea today." The old man frownd as he set a cup of green tea on the counter, then looked closely at the young shinobi, "Are you ok?" The boy just gave short nod as he stared down into his tea, lost in thought again.

_'You and I are the same...What did she mean by those words? Who this person that was supposed to be coming? Is this what Kyuubi meant by **they**?' _Naruto's mind swirled with questions, yet no answers came. He had to talk to that girl again. Only she could give him the answers he was looking for. Just as he came to that conclusion, he felt a hand settle on his shoulder...

* * *

**A/N**: heh, sorry for ending it right here, but I'm feeling super tired right now. so yeah, I decided to reveal Yuri's past little by little...kind of like putting the pieces of a puzzle together and well, I like puzzles. I'm going to hit the hay for now and when I'm all nice and recharged, I'll start working on the next chapter. plz review! ja ne!


	5. chapter 4

**A/N:** I'm feeling a bit stressed right now with finals coming up, but I didn't want you guys to wait too long for another chapter. This one is pretty short and I'm sorry for that, but I hope you enjoy it anyways. Thanks once again for the reviews.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto's not mine, but Yuri and Akuma are.

**Translations:**

baka: idiot

Chichiue: father

kuso: damn

_*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*_

**Three**

_by: Lostlily_

**Chapter 4**

Naruto cried out with surprise when he felt a hand settle on his shoulder. He tried to quickly turn in his stool to see who it was, but he ended up losing his balance and fell to the floor with a small crash. A soft giggle made him glance up. There stood Yuri, trying to muffle her giggles, then she offered her hand to him, "Gomen ne, Naruto-kun. I didn't mean to scare you again." Naruto let out a sigh as he thought to himself,_ 'I really need to be more aware of my surroundings. It's shameful for an expert ninja like me to be surprised so many times.'_

_*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*_

"Who is that girl, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked the young Uchiha as they watched Naruto from their hiding spot across the street behind a fruit stand. They had been tailing their blond teammate ever since Kakashi let them go for the day. Sakura wanted to know what was wrong with him, so she convinced Sasuke to go follow him with her. Despite his aloof attitude, Sasuke found himself worrying about the loud baka as much as the kunoichi was. 

So here they were, watching as a girl, whom they've never seen before, helped Naruto to his feet. Sasuke narrows his eyes slightly as he answers the pink-haired girl's question, "I don't know, but Naruto seems familiar with her." 

"That's so strange, he doesn't have many friends and the ones he does have, we know them. Do you think he just met her recently?" Sakura quietly pondered, her green eyes, never straying from the scene across the street. The Inner Sakura scratches her head with frustration, yelling out, _'Chikuso, I want to know!!' _Sasuke just mumbles his trademark, "Hn." 

Sakura's eyes suddenly widened, "Look at his face, he's so serious. What's he saying to her?" They watched as Naruto spoke to the girl, his face serious in a way they've never seen outside of a battle. The girl nodded, then gave him a brief reply. Sasuke quickly pulled Sakura into the shadows of their hiding place as the girl and Naruto exited the ramen place. He could have sworn that she glanced in their direction, with her strange blue-violet eyes, before they walked off together. Sasuke quietly murmured, "Come on, let's hurry before we lose them."

_*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*_

Yuri patiently waited for Naruto to start speaking. He said in the ramen bar that he had a lot of questions to ask her, so she agreed to come out here and answer them. He took her to the bridge where his team usually met up, knowing that it was a quiet, secluded place where they could talk. Naruto leaned against the rail of the bridge as he tried to gather all his thoughts. Finally, he began to speak, "Who are you really and where are you from because I know that you're not from around here."

"I am a genin from the Hidden Cloud Village and as to who I am, well, I'm the daughter of the Raikage," was the calm reply he got, although there was a hint of strain when the last part was said.

"Why are you here?"

"Like I've mentioned before, I came here for you."

Naruto's hands clenched into fists as he asked a bit loudly, "Why!?"

"Because we're the same."

"You said that yesterday and I still don't understand!" The young shinobi was breathing with frustration, then he became startled as Yuri walks up to him, like she had done the day before, and looks him the eye. He leaned back, almost trying to get away from her closeness, yet he couldn't seem to look away from her eyes. They looked so familiar to him, but why?

Softly, the cloud-nin whispers, "The look I see in your eyes is the same look I see every time I look in a mirror." This shocked the blond ninja like nothing else. He had thought those words when he saw the look of sadness and loneliness in Gaara's eyes during his battle with him. _ 'Just like me...' _He stared back into the eyes before him, as he said in a barely audible voice, "Iie...it can't be..."

Hearing those words, the girl silently moved away from him to lean on the rail and stare down at the water flowing below. Quietly, she murmured, "Hai, it's true. I have a youkai in me just like you and Gaara. I know what it's like to have such great power within me.." She looked down, but she didn't see her reflection, she saw something from the past.

_"Iie...it can't be..." The Raikage said with horror as he tried to take in the scene before him. Two bodies were sprawled on the ground of the courtyard, burned beyond recognition. Judging from whatever was left of their clothing, they were just some teenage genin. Whispers from the jounin present seemed to float around._

_"It looks as if lightning struck them."_

_"But there was no storm."_

_"A little girl did this?"_

_"She has that **thing** inside of her."_

_"Shh...she might hear us and we'll end up just like those two."_

_A short distance away from the bodies was a seven-year-old Yuri, hugging herself as she rocked back and forth, a look of utter shock on her face. The Raikage licked his lips nervously before hoarsely asking his daughter, "W-what happened here?" _

_The trembling child looked up to her father, crying out, "Chichiue!! I...I didn't mean to...th-they just ap-appeared. They...s-said th-they w-were g-gonna rid th-the village of a-a m-m-monster...I-I told th-them to s-stay away, b-but they k-kept coming...I t-t-told th-them to s-stay a-away..." _

_The Raikage stared down at the sobbing form of his daughter, his mind unable to comprehend the destruction she caused. Finally, he looked to the jounin and said harshly, "Take these bodies away and report that they were attacked by outside forces. Say not a word of what you saw here this night, understood?" Then, without looking at her, he says to Yuri, just as harshly, "Go to your room and stay there." After saying that, he departs, never once seeing the broken look in the little girl's eyes._

"Yuri-san...are you ok?" 

Yuri comes back to the present, "N-nani?" 

Naruto looked at her with concern, "You're crying." 

She touches her cheek, surprised to find it wet with tears. She quickly wiped the wetness away, then gazed at him, "It's nothing." The blond shinobi looked as if he didn't believe her but decided not to make any comments. He rested his hands on the back of his head as he turned his attention up to the sky, which for some reason looked even more cloudy then before, like it was about to rain or something. After a moment of silence, he said, "What other reason do you have for coming here?"

Yuri looked back down at the water, "I want you to have the same chance that was given to me and Gaara."

"Chance?" Surprise and curiosity was evident in his voice.

"The chance to control the youkai power within you."

"I can already control the Kyuubi's chakra and from our battle, it looked as if Gaara had some control already as well."

"But that's only a small amount of control that you have. Even I can use the power of the youkai in me, but the youkai itself, is beyond my control. Which the same for you and Gaara. At any moment, your seal could break and you'll be lost forever as the Kyuubi takes over your body. Even Gaara has that fear, I know I do," She placed a hand over her chest, where a cursed seal was, just above her heart. It gave a small throb of power.

Naruto's hands lowered to his sides as he gave a small shudder from her words. He knew there was truth in what she said. The times he tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra, he could feel the struggle of power between him and youkai. Sure, in the end, he won the power struggle, but what about the next time? What if the Kyuubi wins? What then? Flashes of the people he knew and friends he made go through his mind. If he could fully control the Kyuubi's power, then everyone will finally acknowledge his strength...even Sasuke. Then he'll be able to recognize his dream of becoming Hokage. 

Yuri watched him, waiting for him to make his decision, but she already knew what it was going to be. He looked towards her and said without any hesitation, "Tell me how."

"Let's take a walk as I explain everything," She said as she headed towards the end of the bridge, making him quickly follow. Then he watched with open-mouth surprise as a kunai appeared in her hand and she swiftly turned and threw it towards a bush on the other end of the bridge. Naruto asked with confusion, "What did you do that for?" 

Yuri frowned at the bush for a moment, then said, "I thought I heard something." Then she shrugged and they continued on with her explaining about the forbidden scroll as Akuma did for Gaara on the night they met him.

_*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*_

The moment Naruto and the girl called Yuri disappeared into the forest, two hidden ninja relaxed slightly. "Kuso!" Sasuke muttered quietly before he took his hand off of Sakura's mouth, letting her take in a deep breath. Sakura glanced anxiously towards her teammate, "That was close...should we keep following them?"

"Iie, it's too risky. She almost got us this time." Their eyes strayed towards the tree behind them where the kunai embedded itself along with several strands of pink hair. "I think we better have a talk with Kakashi-sensei. He'll know what to do." The female shinobi nodded with agreement, then they both jumped out of sight, not noticing how the clouds in the sky seemed to be gone now.

**A/N:** man this was short. I'm really sorry, I hope it made sense. it's like four o' clock right now and I have class in like three hours. school sucks. hmm...Naruto's a bit ooc in this story, but I figured that he's matured slightly during the past year, so it's ok. Gaara should be coming back into the scene in the next chapter, so you Gaara fans have something to look forward to now. hopefully the next chapter will be longer too. plz continue to review, they're a big help. arigato! ja ne!


	6. chapter 5

**A/N:** sorry it's been so long, but I had a research paper due, so that pretty much sucked up my time and brain power. hope you like this chapter!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Naruto.

**Translations:**

honto: really

aa: yeah (slang)

itai: ouch, ow 

ara: huh?

ne: right / ok / can also mean "hey" in some occasions

ano sa: a phrase that Naruto says a lot. it's something along the lines of "hey" 

_ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*_

**Three**

_by: Lostlily_

**Chapter 5**

Sasuke wearily walked up the stairs to his apartment. He, along with Sakura, had looked everywhere for Kakashi, only to be informed by a chuunin that their team leader was sent away on a mission. Even if they had found him, they weren't really sure what they were going to tell him. When they were spying on Naruto and the girl, they had found themselves too far to hear much, but from what they did hear, it didn't sound very good. The two teammates both agreed that they needed to have a serious talk with Naruto, so they decided to meet up at the blond's apartment the next day.

As Sasuke stood in front of his door, he had begun to wonder why he was so concerned over the other boy. He started to list all the reasons why he shouldn't care in his mind.

_'He's loud and annoying. His eating habits are disgusting. All he ever talks about is ramen and becoming the next Hokage. He's a big showoff...' _He frowned,_ 'And the baka takes needless risks with his life. He doesn't know when to run and give up. He's my rival and I hate him...I hate him for being so strong. I hate him for making me lose my focus on becoming an avenger. And most of all, I hate him for making me care.' _ The young shinobi shook his head with disgust, then opened the door.

The moment he set foot in the apartment, he knew there was something wrong. Calmly, he closed the door and walked into the middle of the room. His hand hovered close to the pouch on his leg as he asked, "What do you want?"

Yuri stepped into the pool of moonlight that poured in from the window. Her eyes took on an eerie glow as the light reflected off of them and the boy couldn't miss the tone of dislike in the cloud-nin's voice as she said, "I came to stop you from interfering with our plans."

Sasuke smirked as he held up a kunai that seemed to magically appear in his hand, "Honto? And how do you plan to stop me?"

"Any way I can," Yuri replied, her own kunai in hand. ****a/n: so cliché, ne?. (^^;)**** Sasuke's sharingan appeared as they both swiftly stuck towards each other, their kunai sparking in the darkness upon impact. Metal grated against metal for a few seconds, then CLANG CLANG, they struck again and again, then jumped back. The boy leapt into the air and sent several shuriken flying towards the young girl with deadly accuracy. Quickly, she deflected each one with her kunai, then she launched herself at him as he landed, sending a kick aimed for his head. The leaf-nin easily blocked the kick and countered with one of his own, which the kunoichi blocked as well. Unfortunately for her, she didn't know how excellent and fast Sasuke was at hand-to-hand combat, so she failed to block the fist that came plowing into her stomach, which sent her flying into the wall with a THUD.

Yuri fell to the ground as she coughed and tried to catch her breath. She lifted her head and glanced at her opponent, then gave a low hiss as she spotted the arrogant smirk on his lips. Fueled by anger, she jumped to her feet and launched herself at him again, attacking with a series of punches and kicks. Sasuke noted that her speed and technique seemed to rise a notch, but to him, it was nothing. He had, after all, copied Lee's taijutsu and he could have easily ended the fight the second it started, but he wanted to see what this girl was capable of. 

The female shinobi felt her frustration throbbing throughout her body. She didn't dare use any ninjutsu attacks for fear that the destruction would alarm the sleeping villagers and she only knew a handful of genjutsu that wouldn't be much help at the moment. She slashed at the leaf-nin with her kunai, only to have it blocked again, then she suddenly cried out with pain as Sasuke's hand chopped down on her wrist, causing her to drop her weapon. Quickly she took out another and threw it at him, hitting him square in the chest...or so she thought. She was surprised to see her kunai embedded in a pillow instead of her opponent, results of the replacement technique. Instantly, she sensed his presence behind her, but before she could move, she felt the cold edge of his weapon against her throat. 

Sasuke turned her and slammed her against the wall, then held his kunai up to her throat again, all in one motion, "Now you're going to answer some questions for me." He was a bit disappointed in her abilities. From the way she kept sensing him and Sakura, and the way she threw her kunai at them at the bridge, he had expected better. As he waited for her to speak, he found himself confused by the lack of worry in her eyes. She wasn't even looking at him, her gaze seemed to be focused...behind him?

Suddenly, the leaf-nin found himself held up a foot off the ground with his legs and arms bound to his body by sand. As he struggled to free himself, he thought, 'This jutsu...'

Yuri moves away from the wall as she looked towards the shinobi who held Sasuke captive, "Gaara! I thought you were arriving tomorrow."

The sand-nin didn't take his gaze away from his prisoner as he replied, "I got tired of the waiting, so I left early."

"But, how did you know I was here?"

"I could sense your chakra," Gaara said simply. Then he gave small, sinister smile, his open hand ready to close tightly to make the sand crush the life out of the other boy. The cloud-nin noticed and said with alarm, "Gaara, iie! You can't kill him." 

Pale green eyes narrow at the girl, "Why not?"

"He's...he's one of Naruto's precious people, ne?"

"...Aa."

"Well, then you can't kill him because Naruto won't come with us if you do. I'll make sure he doesn't ruin our plans," Yuri said as she approached the captive shinobi. She pulled a small pouch out of her pocket and opened it. She turned it over and dumped the contents onto her palm. Out of the pouch came some strange purplish powder. 

Sasuke increased his struggles, but the sand held him tight. The young kunoichi just smiled at the boy as she held her hand up close to his face, "Don't worry, this will just make you take a nice long nap, maybe for a day or two." She blew the powder towards him and she watched with satisfaction as it quickly took effect.

The dark-haired boy desperately tried to fight against the sleepiness that suddenly overcame him. He felt his limbs going limp and before he could think another thought, the darkness won him over. 

Gaara's sand lets go of the unconscious boy, dropping him on the ground carelessly. Once all the sand was back in his gourd, his corked it, then he looked towards Yuri. She was staring down at the sleeping boy, a strange expression on her face. _'What is she thinking about?' _ He watched as she shook her head then gave a small smile towards him, "Let's go, Naruto's waiting." 

The sand-nin nodded and then they were gone, leaving the young leaf-nin lying on the floor of his apartment with a slight breeze blowing through an open window.

_ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*_

Naruto yawned as he walked down the path leading away from the village. When he and Yuri separated after their talk, he had thought a lot about what she told him. With every word he heard, the more he felt uneasy about his hasty decision to leave the Leaf Village. He paused in his walking. Could he really trust Yuri? He stared down at the ground for a moment, then he shook his head and smiled to himself. Of course he could trust her. He knew deep down inside that they would be good friends. It was a feeling he hadn't felt since he had first met Haku in the Wave Country. Feeling reassured, the blond genin continued to walk on.

He walked until he was about two kilometers away from the village. He was glancing around the clearing he was in, wondering why it looked so familiar, when he suddenly found himself falling in a 8 foot deep crevice in the ground. As clumsy as ever, he landed on his head, then fell onto his side. He sat up and rubbed his head with a muttered, "Itai..."

"Are you ok?"

Naruto glanced up, still rubbing his head, to see Yuri gazing down at him with some concern. He gave her one of his trademark fox grins as he said, "Hehe...Of course I'm ok! I meant to fall down this hole to...ano...to see if there was any enemies hiding in here!"

Yuri blinked at his reply, then just smiled and nodded. The leaf-nin nimbly climbed out of the crevice, then dusted himself off. Afterwards, he looked towards the girl, but was surprised to find that she wasn't alone. He pointed at the red-haired ninja standing next to her, "Ara? Gaara! W-what's he doing here?!"

"Ano...did you forget what I told you today? I'm sure I mentioned that he was coming. In fact, he arrived earlier than we planned," The kunoichi said, still smiling. 

"Eto...Hai, I remember now," The blond shinobi claimed, even though he really didn't. "Ano sa, ano sa, it's been a while, ne Gaara?"

Gaara didn't reply, in fact, he wasn't even paying attention to his two companions. He appeared to be deep in thought as he stared down at the ground. Both Naruto and Yuri were curious as to what he was staring at, so they both walked over to him, standing on his left and right, then looked at the ground as well. 

After a minute of staring, Naruto suddenly asks, "Ne ne...What are we looking for?"

Gaara muttered, "Baka...you don't remember this place?" He walked over to the crevice and tilted his head back, looking up at the night sky. His companions both looked at him with confusion, then Naruto finally took a careful glance around. 

A majority of the surrounding trees were knocked over and the area appeared to be in a state of recuperating vegetation. He walked past some fallen trees to another clearing. The blond frowned, still not understanding what the sand-nin was talking about, until his gaze settled on a certain tree. He could almost see Sakura pinned against the tree with sand slowly squeezing the life out of her. His cerulean eyes moved to another spot in the clearing, the spot where he blocked Gaara's attack towards Sasuke. His gaze strayed toward the direction where Gaara and Yuri stood. He remembered what had happened here last year.

_-flashback-_

Gaara, in his final youkai form, surrounded Naruto with sand, ready to execute his Sababuu Sousou jutsu, when the young leaf shinobi yelled out, "I will protect Sakura-chan!! SUMMONING NO JUTSU!!" Out of the smoke appeared the a gigantic toad, wearing a robe and smoking a pipe. The toad's deep voice thunders out as he looked up towards the top of his head, "What's with you...YOU AGAIN!! Whaccha want?"

"GAMABUNTA! Like fight with me, would ya!! I'm counting on you, Boss!!"

Together, Naruto and Gamabunta fought against Gaara and Shukaku. It was a fierce battle as the giant toad and badger exchanged blows and it ended with Naruto nailing Gaara with a chakra-filled head butt. Shukaku disappeared in poof of smoke and Gamabunta did the same, leaving his sword embedded in the ground. Both boys had fallen to the ground, totally spent of chakra. Deciding to finish the fight, once and for all, they both launched towards each other, ready to deliver the final blow...

-end flashback-

Naruto found himself back in the clearing where he and Gaara had fallen after that last blow. Yuri watched both boys, wondering what it was about this place that brought such a strange look in their eyes. She looked around, also noting the obvious signs of new growth. Quietly she asked, "Ano...Was there battle here?"

After a moment of silence, Naruto gives her a big fox grin, then boasted, "Hai! This is the place where I kicked Gaara's ass!"

"Hmm...So this is the place where you fought." Blue-violet eyes rested upon Gaara. The red-haired ninja, just continued to silently stare up at the night sky. Not wanting to bother him tonight, Yuri gave a small sigh, then said, "Come on, we should get moving. We have a long way to go."

"Yosh!"

"Aa."

  


A/N: hmm...well, this is all I could squeeze out of my brain for now. it might take another long while before I can get another chapter out. I have my finals this coming week. I'm not even sure if I should keep going with this story. what do you think? should I continue? plz review and let me know. thanks.


	7. chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **mine? don't think so.

**Translations:**

hentai: pervert or perverted

oyaji: old man

ai: love

* * *

**Three**

_by: Lostlily_

**Chapter 6**

Gaara, Naruto, and Yuri traveled throughout the night and half the morning before they decided to take a break. They picked a resting spot right next to a smoothly flowing stream that ended with a small pool of water. Naruto volunteered to catch some fish, while Yuri went off to collect some firewood, and Gaara...well, he opted to just lean against a tree with his arms crossed and watch their stuff.

Soon, they had a nice fire going and three large fish roasting. After their meal, they were content to rest a while before moving on. Naruto stretched out on his back and stared up at the clouds floating overhead. He could remember doing something like this during missions with his team. He could almost picture Kakashi-sensei sitting up in a tree reading his hentai book and Sasuke brooding by the fire while Sakura-chan prattled on about one thing or another. He glanced at his current companions. Gaara was sitting on a large rock, staring off into space while Yuri was a small distance away from them, picking flowers.

He had known Sasuke and Sakura for most of his life and they had even become very important people to him over the past two years. Yet, even though they were his teammates and they had been through so much together, being with them didn't feel the same as being with Gaara and Yuri. All the friends he had made would never understand him they way these two did. He felt more comfortable with these two people than he felt with his own teammates. With these two, he had nothing to hide.

Smiling with contentment, Naruto then yawned and drifted off to sleep.

Yuri plucked another flower from a bush, then placed it on her lap with the others she picked, adding to the colorful array. She lifted one up and inhaled its sweet fragrance. She loved flowers and back at the Hidden Cloud Village, she would spend hours sitting on the hill just outside the village, just because it was covered with all sorts of flowers. It was on that hill that she had first met Akuma-anki.

_-flashback-_

_Yuri hummed to herself softly as she lightly ran her fingertips over the soft petals of the flowers in front of her. Today was a special day. Today she had earned the title of genin. But she didn't graduate at the academy with the other kids. Instead, her private tutor solemnly gave her a forehead protector and told her that she was now a genin. She glanced towards the village where she knew other kids who graduated from the academy that same day were probably celebrating with their families. _'Chichiue didn't even come to see me today...'

_She looked down at the flowers a bit sadly. Sometimes she wished she was a flower. A flower's existence was so simple. Grow, bloom, and die, making the way for other flowers to grow. She sighed, as she spotted from the corner of her eye, the jounin that was sent to watch over her. He wasn't really there to keep danger from her, but was there to keep her from endangering others. _

_As she usually did, she decided to ignore the shinobi and instead, concentrated on her flowers. Most of the time, she wouldn't see her jounin guards and the times when she did, they would always keep far away from her, but this jounin was different. She picked up her basket of flowers and stood, ready to return to the village._

_The young girl became startled as a shadow suddenly fell across her. She looked up and found herself staring into a pair of cold, magenta-colored eyes. Dark bangs recklessly fell across a cloud forehead protector and a black cloth masked the rest of the face below the watchful eyes. This was a jounin that Yuri had never met before._

_"Do you need help with that, Yuri-sama?" A smooth, deep voice politely asked her. Her mouth dropped open with surprise, then she stuttered, "I-iie, I'm f-fine." Her hands tightened around the handle of her basket. "A-ano...are you one of the guards sent by Chichiue?" _

_"Hai. I am Akuma." He studied her a moment, then his gaze strayed to the protector tied around her neck. "Congratulations on graduating, Yuri-sama."_

_Her eyes widened with disbelief. Why was he being to nice to her? She had a strange feeling inside, but she didn't know what it was. She gave a wary nod as she whispered softly, "Arigato..."_

_-end flashback-_

Yuri stood up and carried her flowers over to the dying fire. She sat next to Naruto and began to weave the flowers together into a chain. The blond ninja smiled in his sleep and mumbled, "One more bowl of pork ramen please, oyaji!" The cloud-nin gave a small giggle at the boy's sleep talk.

Gaara glanced at them from the corner of his eye. They seemed so carefree. It was something he wasn't used to. Back at the Hidden Sand Village, he learned that relaxing wasn't much of an option for him. He turned his head to watch the others more fully. It felt strange to be with them. He was barely used to spending time with his siblings and now here he was together with two genin from two different villages, striving for one common goal.

He looked towards the drooling blond boy, who slept peacefully amongst people he barely knew. At first glance, one would never have thought it possible that a boy like that could have the power to defeat such strong opponents such as Hyuuga Neji and Gaara of the Sand. He was a mystery. Gaara's first impression of the boy was that he was nothing more than a weak little bug, but as the Chuunin Exam progressed, Naruto slowly proved to the others that there was more behind his fox-like grins, than what they had expected.

Gaara gazed down at his reflection in the water flowing before him. In a way, Naruto had saved him from totally succumbing to the hate that had started to grow in him, since the night he was told of his father's order to have him assassinated. He watched as the pale green eyes staring back at him became sad as a single name floated through his mind, _'Yashamaru...'_

_-flashback-_

_Six-year-old Gaara was kneeling next to the bloody, broken body of his uncle, Yashamaru. A person that always watched out for him and was very precious to his heart. A person that had just attempted to kill him._

_His hands clutched his head in confusion as he sobbed uncontrollably. He whimpered, "W-why...Why...Why is it...!? Why you...? Why...!? Why...?"_

_The dying shinobi quietly replied, "......It was an order."_

_The crying boy wiped at his tears as he said brokenly, "Always...You were always...Only you were my..."_

_Ever so softly, "I was ordered to assassinate you..."_

_Green eyes opened wide with disbelief, "...!?"_

_"By your father....Kazekage-sama."_

_Gaara was in shock. He couldn't believe what Yashamaru just said. He remembered the look on his father's face a few hours earlier when Gaara passed by him after killing a man out of a burst of emotion. 'Chichiue...' He covered his mouth as he felt the bile rise in his throat, but it was all too much. He bent over and vomited. _

_Yashamaru explained to him about why the Kazekage had ordered for the boy's death. He explained how Gaara had become too dangerous for the village. Though he was saddened to hear this, Gaara felt a small ray of hope pierce through him._

_".....Then...Then....you had no choice. It was because of Chichiue..."_

_"No...You're mistaken. Yes, I did receive Kazekage-sama's order. But...I could've declined it if I wanted to..."_

_The red-haired boy felt the ray of hope fade away as he listened, his tears still flowing freely down his pale cheeks. "!?"_

_"Gaara-sama...Deep down inside...I must've always...Resented you..."_

_From then on, Gaara felt his whole world crumble around him. He listened on as the one person he thought he was precious to, began to tear his life and what little happiness he had, apart with his words. His mother never loved him. Yashamaru never loved him. He was never loved. _

_He was Gaara, '**A demon that loves only himself.'**_

_After destroying the young child's illusions of his life, he made one last attempt to destroy the child himself. He activated the exploding talismans under his vest, "...This is it...Please die..."_

_The explosion was big, but it didn't affect the demon possessed child who was automatically shielded by sand. He just bowed his head, rage beginning to swell within his small body. His head snapped up and he yelled out with a crazed look in his eyes as sand suddenly flowed to the left part of his forehead. The sand fell away, leaving behind a bloody mark, the kanji 'ai'. As blood trickled over his left eye he felt like he finally understood. A picture of his older siblings and his father flashed through his mind. He wouldn't consider them as his family anymore. He was alone. All alone..._

_-end flashback-_

Gaara knew his life was more different now than how it was before the Chuunin Exam. He wasn't so alone anymore. Despite their fear of Shukaku, he knew Temari and Kankuro were there for him. And now...his eyes strayed back to the girl and boy sitting by the fire, he had those that were like him.

Naruto had awakened and was now happily chatting with Yuri. They both noticed Gaara looking at them. Yuri smiled at him and Naruto gave a big grin with an enthusiastic wave.

Yes, he was definitely not alone anymore.

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_-Konoha Village-_

Sakura arrived at Naruto's apartment building, mildly surprised to find that Sasuke wasn't there yet. She glanced up at the sun. She wasn't late. Where was Sasuke?

Not wanting to enter by herself, the pink-haired shinobi leaned on the wall, deciding to wait for her teammate to arrive. But an hour passed and then another. Still no Sasuke. Feeling worried now, she quickly set off in the direction of Sasuke's home. A short while later, she stood in front of his door then, after hesitating a moment, gave a couple of knocks, calling out, "Sasuke-kun? Are you home? Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura nibbled on her lower lip, frowning now. He didn't appear to be home, but what was this strange feeling of apprehension that crept upon her? Something was wrong...very wrong, but what? What should she do?

After thinking long and hard about it, she said to herself, "I'll go talk to Hokage-sama. Maybe she could talk to Naruto or something and maybe she'll know when Kakashi-sensei will be back from his mission."

Sure with her decision, she marched off towards the Hokage's headquarters, not knowing that just beyond the door she had just left, lay the unconscious form of her dark-haired teammate.

* * *

**A/N: **hope you enjoyed this chapter. I delved a bit into Yuri and Gaara's past, neat huh? Gaara's flashback was pretty much straight from the manga, so it should be accurate. I know that there wasn't much action here, but I just wanted to take a moment to get to know the main characters themselves and show the budding bond between our demon possessed friends. Hopefully the next chapter will have a bit more action. Thanks for the reviews, they were all really great. I'm glad you guys want me to continue, so I'm going to do my best for you all. oh, and the subject of pairings came up like twice. to be honest, I wasn't really planning on having any pairings in this story, but if you guys really want me to, I can. I just kinda think that having couples might muddy up the story a bit. oh well, we'll see. plz review!! ja ne!!


	8. chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Naruto? Mine? Nope, it's not, gomen.

**Translations:**

baba: old woman / hag

mou: a word, I guess, of compliancy. sort of like 'now, now' or 'there, there' or maybe even 'hey, hey'...err...well, I suppose it's something like that.

hahaue: mother

kage bushin no jutsu: shadow clone skill

uzumaki naruto rendan: uzumaki naruto combo

subaku kyuu: desert coffin

subaku sousou: desert funeral

* * *

**Three**

_by: Lostlily_

**Chapter 7**

It was another bright and beautiful day in the peaceful Hidden Leaf Village. The people on the streets were going on with their daily lives doing the things that needed to be done. Very few noticed the silver-haired jounin, known as Kakashi, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. He's finally returned from his mission and now he was on his way to report to the Hokage.

As he went, he thought about his subordinates. He hoped that they didn't cause any trouble while he was away. He remembered the fight Sasuke and Naruto had a couple of months ago.

They had almost killed each other at that time. For two weeks after that fight, they didn't say a single word to each other and both Kakashi and Sakura thought it would be a hopeless situation. Then, all of a sudden, things seemed to go back to the way they used to be before the Chuunin Exam. They would insult each other and train tirelessly trying to be better than one another. Kakashi didn't know what happened, but whatever it was, he was glad it did because those two seemed to reach some sort of understanding.

Things appeared to be alright with his team, but Kakashi was a bit worried about Naruto. The blond genin seemed to be upset about something, but what, the jounin didn't know. Whatever it was, he hoped it won't be a big problem because there was already enough problems for the Leaf to worry about right now.

Kakashi paused on top of telephone pole just to watch the people move about below. His team was strong and he knew they could take care of themselves, but lately he's been experiencing a lot of bad omens. Just this morning, the strap on his kunai pouch tore in half. It took him an hour just to fix it. That's why he was running late. Speaking of being late...he continued on his way.

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Tsunade was sitting at her desk, staring down at the crystal ball before her. She wondered how The Third ever fought the temptation to spy on everyone all the time. The possibilities were just endless.

She tapped her chin thoughtfully, _'This thing would be a big help during a poker game...'_

Just then, Kakashi decided to appear in front of her desk. He gave a small bow, "I have the information you wanted, Hokage-sama."

The older woman cringed slightly. She didn't know if she would ever get used to being called that. "Well? What did you find out?"

"First off, the rumors about Gaara were true; he was gone for about ten days. But it seems that he returned to the Hidden Sand village and apparently requested for a leave of absence from his shinobi duties. He was gone again by the time I received this information."

"Hmm...I see. And the other?"

"From what I gathered, the Raikage has something to hide. There are rumors of a monster in the Hidden Cloud Village."

"A monster?"

"Hai. A dangerous one. One of our spies asked around and he informed me that the rumors circled around one person."

"And that person is...?"

"One of the young genin. A fourteen year old girl. To be more specific, the Raikage's daughter."

"Daughter, eh? I didn't know he had one."

"It's a fact that many don't know about."

"Well, if the rumors are true and she's anything like Naruto or Gaara, then there's bound to be some sort of trouble. Especially if the Cloud are keeping quiet about it." Tsunade went back to staring at her crystal ball, deep in thought. "Kakashi, good work. You've done well. This matter will have to be discussed among the elders. We will announce our decisions to all the jounin and chuunin soon."

"Well, if that is all you require of me, Hokage-sama, I need to go and check on my subordinates now."

"Ara? That reminds me...Naruto left this note at my door about three days ago," Tsunade said as she handed a piece of paper to Kakashi.

The jounin quickly scanned the note which simply said:

_Got bored. Went to go find and train with the Ero-Senin. Don't know when I'll be back, but when I am, watch out, baba. I just might challenge you for the title of Hokage!_

_Uzumaki Naruto_

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed slightly, "So he left?"

"Hai. Such arrogant little brat about it too. Challenge me again? Humph! I'd like to see him try-" Tsunade broke off as she noticed the slight look of worry on the jounin's face, "Don't worry. He may be arrogant, but he's strong and once Jiraiya hears about Naruto looking for him, he'll find that little brat and take him under his wing again. Naruto will be fine. Now go home and get some rest or read that hentai book that baka Jiraiya authored."

Kakashi nodded as the Fifth Hokage made shooing motions with her hand, then he poofed away. Tsunade continued to stare at the crystal ball. She didn't want the silver-haired jounin to know that she was a bit worried about the blond genin herself. She lost the ability to see the boy in the crystal ball since the day he returned from his last mission and she didn't know why. She could only hope that Jiraiya was with the boy now.

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Sasuke slowly opened his eyes. He slowly gazed around, trying to figure out where he was. It appeared that he was in bed inside he own room. He glanced at his window. Afternoon. He never slept this late. And then it hit him. That girl and...sand...iie, Gaara!

He quickly sat up, then braced himself slightly as a wave of dizziness crashed over him. Suddenly he heard a voice call out from the doorway, "Sasuke-kun! You're awake!" Then he found himself being tightly embraced by his pink-haired teammate, Sakura.

Squirming out of her tight grip, Sasuke asked, "Sakura? What are you doing here?"

The young kunoichi reluctantly lets go him, then kneels by his bed as she explained, "I came here to find you when you didn't arrive at Naruto's apartment like we planned. I knocked, but you didn't answer, so I decided to go talk to the Hokage about Naruto. But just as I was on my way, I noticed your window was open. I knew you wouldn't be careless enough to leave it open, so I climbed up the wall and got into your apartment through the window. It was then that I spotted you in the middle of the floor, sound asleep. I tried and tried to wake you, but you wouldn't wake up. I would've gone for help, but you might've been still in danger, so I managed to drag you into bed and stayed by your side as you slept."

"How long was I asleep?"

"Two days."

"Nani! Two days?" Sasuke exclaimed with surprise. This wasn't good. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood.

"Sasuke-kun! What are you doing?"

"We have to hurry and talk to the Hokage. Naruto's in trouble."

Green eyes widen, "Naruto?"

"Hai. I was attacked by that girl we saw with him and by Gaara."

"N-Nani! Gaara was here!"

Sasuke grabbed Sakura's wrist and briskly headed for the door, "Come on, we don't have much time. They probably took him away already..."

_'Naruto...' _Sakura thought to herself as they both dashed out the door.

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"Can you see it?" Yuri asked Gaara as he used his 'third eye' to scan the mountain ahead of them. Their little group had reached a mountainous area in a small country between the Fire Country and the Earth Country. They were in a small clearing about two kilometers away from the base of a mountain. Yuri told them that Akuma wanted them to wait for him in a cave on this mountain, but she wasn't quite sure where its exact location was, so Gaara decided to use his 'third eye' and search the mountain for the cave.

The eye returned and changed back into sand, then went back into gourd. Gaara placed the cork back in as he said, "I saw a cave about halfway up the mountain. It's partially hidden by some large boulders."

Naruto squinted at the mountain then pointed at it, "Ano sa, ano sa...we have to climb halfway up that mountain to reach some cave?" He crossed his arms, "Hrmm...it's sooooo far!"

Gaara glared at the blond, "You complain too much."

Naruto took a step towards the sand-nin as he glared back, "Nani!"

Yuri quickly got in between them, smiling nervously, "Mou, mou, there's no need to argue. Gaara didn't mean anything by that comment." Naruto turned his back on them and pouted. Gaara looked away, fighting the urge to let his sand out. Yuri sweat dropped, then said, "Naruto-kun, just think of the climb as a part of training. You'll be stronger once we reach the cave." (--;)

Naruto's ear twitched, "Training?"

"Hai. Training."

The leaf-nin turned around with a grin on his face, "Yosh! Let's go then!" Then he started marching towards the mountain. About two seconds after he stepped out of the clearing, Yuri and Gaara heard the rustle of leaves, then a THUMP, followed by a, "AHH!"

They walked towards the commotion and stared at the picture before them. Naruto was dangling on a rope by his foot, swinging back and forth. Yuri blinked, then covered her mouth, hiding her smile. Gaara just muttered, "Baka."

"Oi! Don't just stare at me! Help me down!"

Suddenly, Yuri frowned, her amusement disappeared quickly as her blue-violet gaze darted to the left. Gaara's pale green ones did likewise. Some one was watching them.

Without a word, Yuri quickly threw a kunai at the rope holding Naruto, cutting him free. The blond genin promptly fell to the ground, then mumbled, "Itai..." Naruto glanced at his companions, "Ara? What's wrong? What are you two lookin' at?"

Before they could answer the blond shinobi, a shower of kunai came raining towards them. Yuri jumped off to the side, deflecting any kunai coming her way with her own weapon. Naruto let out a startled shout, narrowly dodging the deadly weapons, though he still got slashed many times. Gaara just stood there with his arms crossed and a bored expression on his face as his sand automatically shielded him from harm.

"Well, well, well...it seems like three little ninja have stumbled upon our territory," A voice drawled with faint amusement as Naruto leaned against a tree, his clothes torn in various places and his body covered with many minor wounds.

"Hai, maybe they got lost looking for their hahaues, " Another voice suggested. Gaara's cold, green eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Aww...I think the blond one is going to cry fro-" This voice was cut off as Yuri threw several shuriken towards it. A man jumped from one of the trees, holding on to his bleeding shoulder where one of Yuri's shuriken had found its mark. He wore a pair somewhat dirty brown pants and a worn out green jacket. His tanned face had black slash marks painted under each of his dark browns eyes and his dirty, brown hair hung limply around his face, but what caught the attention of the three young genin was the stone forehead protector that he wore.

The stone-nin glared at Yuri as he growled, "You little brat! You're going to regret doing this to me..."

The cloud-nin moved closer to her companions as she tightened grip around her kunai, her hand shaking slightly. Naruto straightened and moved away from the tree as four more men jumped down from the trees to stand by their angry friend. They all wore the sign of the Hidden Stone.

Gaara studied the shinobi before him and he judged their age to be at least three years older than himself, maybe even older. He was sure the one Yuri hit was the oldest, so he was probably the leader of the group. From the look of their dirty and worn clothes, he would say that they were missing-nin. That would explain why they were around this small, remote country. From the level of chakra he could sense, they didn't seem very strong. They were probably genin like them.

Naruto gritted his teeth with anger, then pointed at the stone shinobi and yelled out, "Who the hell do you think you are to threaten Yuri-chan like that! Your reflexes must be crappy if you got hit by her shuriken!" He had completely forgotten about his own condition.

With a shout filled with fury, the leader ran straight for Naruto, his kunai in hand. The other four stone-nins went for Gaara and Yuri. Three of the stone-nin attempted to attack Gaara, but red-haired boy just continued to stand there, the same bored expression on his face as his sand protected him. Yuri found herself locked in close combat with the other stone-nin, though she was surprised that none of them had thought to use any ninjutsu or genjutsu attacks.

Naruto and the stone-nin leader exchanged a series of punches, kicks, and slashes from their kunai. Naruto jumped back and quickly formed some seals, then yelled out, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Four shadow clones appeared next to the leaf nin. The stone-nin leader was surprised by such a high level jutsu that he didn't react in time to stop the blond's attack. The Narutos surrounded their opponent, then a clone punched the stone-nin in the face as another jumped off the clone's back, spinning into the air as three others attacked, sending the stone-nin flying, "U-Zu-Ma-Ki..." The Naruto in the air sent his leg in a downward arc, bashing the stone-nin in the back of the head with his heel, which made him plummet into the ground face first, "Naruto Rendan!"

Satisfied that his opponent was down for the count, Naruto turned just in time to watch Gaara attack his own opponents. The sand-nin held out his open hand to the side and calmly said, "Sabaku Kyuu..." Sand quickly snaked up the bodies of the stone-nin, encasing them in three separate 'coffins' of sand. Ignoring the looks of terror upon the stone-nin, Gaara squeezed his hand into a fist, saying, "Sabaku Sousou." Before they could even scream, the three ninja were pulverized instantly.

The shinobi fighting Yuri stood in horror as he saw his companions killed. Yuri took advantage of his lack of attention and swiftly sent several needles flying into his neck, giving him a quick, painless death. She looked down at his body and whispered, "Gomen ne."

Naruto had seen Gaara use that jutsu against Rock Lee and he knew it was a deadly attack, but he never knew how deadly it was until that moment. He almost died by that attack himself. He was extremely glad that they weren't enemies anymore.

The stone-nin leader had gained consciousness in time to watch Yuri kill the last of his comrades. Feeling that he had nothing to lose, he quickly got to his feet and ran towards Yuri's unprotected back, his kunai ready to slash at her. Naruto spotted the stone-nin and threw a kunai at him, aiming for his shoulder, but at the very last moment, the ninja shifted his body due to the sand that he noticed coming towards him. That slight shift in position caused Naruto's kunai to find itself embedded in his chest instead of his shoulder. With surprise, the stone-nin looked down at the weapon in his chest, then he fell over, his eyes staring sightlessly into the sky.

For a moment, it seemed as if time stood still and the world had gone quiet. Then Yuri looked from the dead stone-nin to the trembling blond boy whose face had gone pale with shock. Naruto looked down at his shaking hands. He killed someone. Only twice in his life had he ever attempted to take the life of another, but each time he didn't succeed. Deep down, he knew he was glad he never succeeded, but now, he had taken the life of another. Even if it wasn't his intention, it was done. There was no going back. Feeling the bile rise in his throat, he fell to his knees and let out the contents of his stomach.

Gaara watched the other boy with slightly narrowed eyes. _'This was his first kill.'_

Yuri looked at the leaf-nin with a bit of sadness as she said softly, "Naruto-kun..."

* * *

**A/N: **Gomen nasai. It took me so long to update. I've been pretty busy with the holidays and stuff. Also caught a bit of a cold. Oh well, I'm off to Las Vegas tomorrow for a couple of days...woohoo! I'm glad I got this chapter done. I pretty much glossed over the battle scene, but hey, I'm just not good at writing about battles. Besides, the battle itself wasn't the important part. My next chapter probably won't be out till a little after New Years. Oh and I'm so happy for the reviews I received, keep them coming...they're a great inspiration to me. Well, I gotta get some rest now (still a little sick cough, cough) since it's getting pretty late. 'Til next chapter, ja ne and a Happy New Year! 


	9. chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto, but I am the proud owner of a brand-spanking-new Gaara plushie! woohoo! ()

**Translations:**

nindo: way of the ninja

teme: bastard

Anbu: I guess you could say they're the special agents of the ninja world

Sanin: three ninja

* * *

**Three**

_by: Lostlily_

**Chapter 8**

Naruto was silent. He hadn't said a single word since the battle they had with the stone-nin several hours ago. He didn't say anything when Gaara said they should move on their way to the cave and he didn't say anything as Yuri helped him to his feet and gently led him away from the bodies. His body moved automatically as they scaled up the mountain to the cave they were supposed to wait in. Upon reaching their destination, he just leaned against the large boulder next to the cave and slid to the ground, staring off into space. He hadn't moved an inch since.

Gaara was sitting on the boulder Naruto was leaning on. His green-eyed gaze was concentrated on the sun that was slowly setting in the west. You would never have thought he killed anyone that day by the expressionless look on his face. As usual, he was lost in his thoughts and musings.

Yuri stepped out from the darkness of the cave and glanced at her red-haired companion before worriedly looking towards the blond genin. It was clear that the boy was still upset about the fight. Obviously, it was his first kill.

The kunoichi understood his feelings as she remembered the first time she took the lives of other people. She gave an involuntary shiver at the memory. Sometimes she still dreamed about that dark day. _The two teenagers that tried to harm her, her fear, the sudden surge of chakra, the sudden screams of terror, and most all...the look upon her Chichiue's face when he found her with the bodies._ She shook her head, dislodging the images from her mind.

Sighing, she sat next to Naruto. She watched as the sun dipped lower and lower into the horizon until it was gone. The sky was beginning to darken as she said quietly, "Killing is part of the life of a shinobi."

The young leaf-nin flinched in response.

Yuri drew her legs up to her chest, then crossed her arms over her knees and rested her chin on them, continuing, "Akuma-aniki once told me that as ninja, we are to be used as tools to wield against others. He said that to be a true shinobi, we have to live with the fact that killing is just part of the job. It's a necessity..." Very softly, "It's our nindo."

_It's our nindo...nindo..._Yuri's softly spoken words echoed in Naruto's mind. He had his own nindo. He remembered the time when he decided that he wasn't going to live his ninja life the way others did. He remembered deciding that he was going to be a ninja in his own way.

flashback-

_Team 7 was standing before the graves of the fallen Zabuza and his companion, Haku. The three young genin wondered if the only way they were to become true ninja was by being tools used by others. They questioned their sensei and he told them that it was an issue that all shinobi must deal with. _

_Naruto looked off towards the setting sun for a moment, then said determinedly, "Yosh! I've just decided. I'm going to be a ninja in my own way! I'm going to run straight down a path of no regrets!"_

_Kakashi looked startled for a second, then nodded and smiled._

end flashback-

Naruto said quietly, "He's wrong. We're not tools."

Startled from hearing his voice, Yuri's blue-violet eyes slide in his direction with some confusion, "But..."

"We're people. All shinobi are. We eat, sleep and breathe," The blond boy glances up towards the sky as the stars begin to wake. "We bleed when we're hurt, we cry when we're in pain and we smile when we're happy. We have nightmares...and we have dreams. I'm not going to live my life as a tool. That's my nindo."

The kunoichi stared at the boy for a long while before nodding and saying, "Hai, I understand."

"Yuri-chan? Arigato," Naruto said, still gazing up at the stars.

"Hmm? For what?"

"For reminding me of my nindo."

Yuri smiled warmly, then looked up at the night sky as well, "You're welcome."

Naruto suddenly sighed, his gaze falling downward to stare at his hands in his lap. Although Yuri snapped him out of the shock he was in, it didn't make his problem go away. He still killed somebody.

The cloud-nin lowered her head guiltily, guessing at her companion's thoughts, "Gomen nasai, Naruto-kun."

The blond looked at her with surprise, "What are you apologizing for?"

"If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have ended up killing that man."

"It wasn't your fault..."

Blue-violet eyes look towards him tearfully, "Hai! It was! If I only had been more alert...then...then..."

"Did you want to die?" A voice slowly questions from above them. Both turn their gaze up to Gaara, who was quietly sitting on the boulder until he spoke.

Yuri softly whispers, "Iie."

"Naruto, why did you throw that kunai?"

The leaf genin frowns slightly, "To stop that teme from hurting Yuri-chan."

"Then what's the problem?" The sand-nin's voice held a tinge of annoyance.

"B-but...I've never killed anyone before..."

"It gets easier with time."

Cerulean eyes widen, "How can you be so cold!"

"Because I've killed a lot of people. I was just a small child the first time I took a life. You knew that already. I told you before, remember?"

Naruto didn't know how to respond to that.

Yuri leaned her head back against the boulder and went back to gazing at the stars, "I was young too the first time I killed. I know how you feel, Naruto-kun, because I felt the same way too, but Gaara's right. It does get easier with time. Especially when you're fighting to survive."

The blond boy looked towards the night sky, hoping that maybe the stars could help him understand what his companions were talking about. Surprisingly, it was Gaara that helped make things more clear for him when he said in his almost monotone-like voice, "Didn't you once say to me that you would stop me if I ever tried to hurt those precious to you?"

Naruto blinked as the memory of that day came to him.

flashback-

_Gaara laid on his back after falling from the last blow that Naruto had dealt him. Turning his head, he was surprised to see the other boy dragging his equally exhausted body towards him. _

_Thinking that the leaf-nin was planning to finish him off, he yelled out, "...My existence won't be put out...It won't be put out! Will I be saved!"_

_The blond boy paused and painfully lifted his head, "Urgh..." Looking towards the fallen sand-nin, a flash of the him earlier standing in the hospital flashed through his mind as he thought to himself, '_Take this guy...He wants to destroy because of what happened in the past. So what reason do I exist for?'_ Then came a flash of Haku's face, _'I thought I was like him...No...Not quite like him...And that is the worst pain I know...' _ His head hit the ground weakly. '_A world where one's existence is called unnecessary.'

_Gaara's eyes widen as the other boy started to drag himself toward him again. The sand-nin cried out with panic, "D...Don't come closer!" He actually felt fear as the boy slowly continued. Then he watched as the blond boy lifted his head a bit to gaze at him sadly with tear filled eyes._

_Naruto said to him in a shaky voice, "...Being alone...Being incomplete...What you must feel...What your pain must be, I understand that..."_

_Gaara just stared at him...watching as a fierce look suddenly came into the blue eyes._

_The boy continued on to say, "But...for the people that are precious to me, to be able to...The people that are precious to me...If you are hurting them...And if you are trying to kill them...I will stop you..."_

_With utter shock, the red-haired boy said with confusion, "...What the...What? Until now, for the sake of other people, you've..."_

_"Because they rescued me from the hell of being alone...They acknowledged my existence...That's why they are all the most important..."_

_It was then that Gaara understood the power of this boy. A soft look entered his pale-green eyes as an image of his uncle appeared in his mind, _ '...Needing those close to you. An affectionate heart that gives all of itself for those important people, and it watching over them...'_ "...Love..." _'That's why this guy is so strong...'

_Soon after that, Sasuke appeared, telling Naruto that Sakura was safe. Naruto smiled, uttered a few words, then passed out. Gaara's siblings appeared as well and carried their exhausted brother way. _

end flashback-

Naruto was finally feeling better now that he understood that the incident happened because he was protecting Yuri.

The cloud-nin didn't quite understand what her companions were talking about. She asked curiously, "What's Gaara talking about, Naruto-kun?"

"Just something I said to him in the past. Don't worry about today, Yuri, I'm not so upset about it anymore."

"You're not?"

"Iie. I only did what I did because I was protecting a friend."

The young girl blinked as she felt her heart warm slightly, "Y-you think of me as a friend?"

"Aa. Of course I think of you as a friend. I know we haven't known each other all that long, but in my heart, time doesn't matter and I believe we're the best of friends. Gaara's my friend too."

That last part startled the sand-nin into gazing down at the blond genin with pale green eyes that widened with surprise. _ 'Nani? After all that's happened between us...He actually considers me as a friend?'_

Yuri began to absently fiddle with the edge of her shirt as she said quietly, "Gaara told me you strong because you have people that are precious to you..."

Naruto gazed at the girl curiously, "Aa."

"Ano...I was just wondering...What's it like to have precious people?"

The boy blinked, "You don't have any? What about your Chichiue? And that Akuma guy? Aren't they precious to you?"

The cloud-nin began to nibble on her lower lip, "I...I'm not sure. What is a precious person exactly?"

Gaara was interested to hear this as well. After all, he did tell himself that he wanted to know more about the things that Naruto was talking about the last time they met.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and his eyes squinted with deep thought, "Hmm..."

Things were silent for a moment.

"YOSH! I got it!" The leaf genin happily announced in a loud voice. Yuri jumped from the sudden exclamation and Gaara flinched slightly from the loudness. Naruto jumped into his explanations, "A precious person is a person that you want to protect. It's a person that accepts you for who you are. It's a person that you want to keep safe at all costs, even if it meant giving up your own life."

"Even it meant killing the person trying to hurt them?" Yuri asked slowly.

The question caught the blond boy off guard, making him quiet for a second. Then he gave a small nod.

The kunoichi still felt confused about the whole matter. Did she have people that were precious to her? Naruto said that the person was someone that would accept her for who she was. An image of her Chichiue's cold gaze flashed through her mind. _'Chichiue doesn't accept me. He hates me...just like the villagers...' _Then an image of Akuma appeared. _'Akuma-aniki...Up until now, he was only person who was ever nice to me. Does that mean he's someone precious to me? What about Naruto and Gaara? Naruto said I was his friend. Am I precious to him? I think of him and Gaara as friends. Are they precious to me? I still don't...understand...'_

Naruto surprised himself. Everything he said was true. If killing a person was the only way to stop them from hurting his friends, then he would do it. Friends...he called them his friends and he meant it. Even if he's only been with them for a short time, he felt like he's known them all his life. It was strange, but it was like something inside him recognized these two. He really would give his life to protect them, which was almost funny because just last year, one of them tried to kill him twice.

He glanced towards Yuri, watching as she worried her lower lip, wondering what she was thinking. Then he shifted his gaze upward towards Gaara, who was looking a bit confused. Naruto could almost see the boy beneath the sand and cold exterior. These two people thirsted for control over their lives the way he does. He used to think he could get through life on his own, but his friends back home made him see that true strength couldn't be found by fighting alone. Maybe that's why he was brought together with these two. Maybe it was his job to teach these two about friendship and belonging. In teaching them about stuff like that, maybe he could learn a few new things himself.

Gaara felt like he was beginning to understand the words Naruto said to him when they laid spent on the ground after their fight. The sand-nin remembered thinking to himself that Naruto was strong because he had love to heal his emotional scars. Gaara knew his own emotional scars were slowly healing.

In the past, he never really noticed it, but there were people that did care about him. Maybe not much, but Kankuro cared a little and Temari...well, she always seemed to watch out for her little brother, even when he was at his most violent self. When he really thought about it, he always did have a soft spot for his older sister. During the Chuunin Exams, he let her talk him out of killing those young leaf genin in the forest and the day he fought against Naruto, he made sure she was far away from him when he was transforming into his demon form.

He blinked. He had precious people. He had his siblings and now he had these two who mirrored his very soul. Naruto and Yuri...they understood the loneliness he went through...the darkness he's just barely beginning to crawl out of. With them by his side, he could finally learn what it is to be truly strong.

All three of them went back to gazing up at the star-filled sky. A gentle breeze blew by, ruffling their hair as each became lost in their own thoughts. There was a certain feeling of peace to be felt when stargazing with friends.

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_Hidden Leaf Village_-

Sakura watched as her dark-haired teammate angrily paced back and forth. She had never seen him this agitated before. They were in the outer offices of the shinobi headquarters, waiting for an audience with the Hokage. They had been waiting all day. They were told that Hokage-sama was having a serious meeting with the elders. Both genin insisted that they just had to speak with the Hokage, but their pleas had no effect on the Anbu guards at the door. They were told to wait.

"Chikuso! I can't wait any longer. I'm going to go after him," Sasuke said darkly as he punched a nearby wall.

Sakura jumped to her feet as she said with worry, "Sasuke-kun, you can't! We have to talk to Hokage-sama or Kakashi-sensei first."

"You talk to them and I'll go after Naruto."

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Yo!" A voice cheerfully called out as their silver-haired sensei appeared in the room with a puff of smoke.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're back!" Sakura cried out with relief.

The jounin looked at his subordinates, curious to find out why Sasuke was glaring at him and why Sakura looked like she was about to burst out into tears. There goes that bad feeling again, like something was terribly, terribly wrong. His feeling was confirmed when the young Uchiha spoke.

"Naruto was taken away by some girl and Gaara of the Sand."

"Are you sure? He left a note with the Hokage saying that he went to go train with Jiraiya-sama."

Both Sakura and Sasuke frowned. Then the boy said, "I fought with the girl and Gaara. I heard her say Naruto was going with them right before they knocked me out."

"This is bad."

"I'm afraid it's only going to get worse," A voice said from the doorway. All three look to see Tsunade with a frown of worry on her face.

"Hokage-sama, what do you mean?" Sakura asks almost hesitantly.

"She means that Naruto's disappearance is just the tip of the ice berg."

"Jiraiya-sama!" Kakashi exclaims with surprise as the big, white-haired man steps out from behind Tsunade.

The Legendary Sanin had a grim look on his face as he said, "We have to get to those three before they find what they're looking for."

Sasuke scowled, "And what is it that they're looking for?"

"The Akatsuki."

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A cloaked figure agilely leapt through the trees of a dark forest. The figure paused on a tree branch to gaze up at the half moon in the sky.

_"It's almost time..."_

Then the figure continued on silently, like a ghost moving from tree to tree. In the distance loomed the mountain where three demon-possessed shinobi waited.

Akatsuki: a group of 8 s-class missing-nins (used to be nine, but orochimaru left them), that sasuke's older brother belongs to. hmm...I believe the word akatsuki itself means red cloud, seeing as both itachi and kisame wear cloaks with red clouds on them.

* * *

**A/N:** whew, I hope this chapter makes sense. hmm...the story is about to get a whole lot more interesting. well, at least I think it will. But yeah, I'm debating whether I should involve the other characters or not. I just feel like they should get involved. hmm...anyways, please review and let me know what you think. A big thanks to those who gave reviews for the previous chapters. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story. I'm off to go work on the next chapter. ja ne!

oh yeah, almost forgot. some of you might not be caught up, manga or episode wise, so here's a lil treat for ya! This site has the naruto manga scancalations from chapter 1 to 199. they also have episodes 1 to 64 to download if you have bit torrent. they update every week so it's a pretty cool site. enjoy!

www . narutofan . com (just take the space out)


	10. chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** you know the drill...

**Translations:**

matte: wait

onegai: please

kozou: kid (I finally found the right spelling for it, yay!)

Yondaime: The Fourth (Hokage)

* * *

**Three**

_by: Lostlily_

**Chapter 9**

_-Konoha Village-_

Iruka was walking down one of the hallways of the shinobi headquarters when he spotted Kakashi striding quickly towards the Hokage's main offices. The chuunin was feeling a bit uneasy since he last saw Naruto a couple of days ago. He knew something was bothering the boy and he thought he would confide in his former sensei, but he didn't. Now he was anxious to know how the boy was doing.

Seeing that Naruto's jounin sensei was just down the hall, Iruka decided to ask him how the young blond was. He called out as he jogged up to the silver-haired man, "Kakashi-sensei! Matte!"

Kakashi stopped and watched as the other man approached him. His visible eye gazed at the chuunin lazily for a moment before he said, "Yo! Iruka-sensei, what can I do for you?"

Iruka gave a somewhat embarrassed smile then said, "Eto...I was just curious about Naruto. I haven't seen him since your team returned from their last mission. It seemed like something was bothering him. Has he told you anything?"

The jounin just stared at the younger man for a long while, looking almost as if he was debating something in his head. Just as the chuunin teacher began to fidget under the strange stare, the other man said, "I think you better come with me."

Then the copy-ninja resumed walking towards the Hokage's offices.

Iruka quickly began to follow the other shinobi. He felt a knot of worry form in his gut. Kakashi's voice lacked it's usual lazy drawl, meaning that there was something wrong. Something the academy teacher was afraid to find out.

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Ten genin, three jounin, and one rookie chuunin were all gathered in the inner office of the Fifth Hokage.

The jounin stood close to the desk, pondering why their leader summoned them and their teams so early in the morning. The sun was barely beginning to rise.

Kurenai quietly said, "I wonder what this is all about."

Asuma slipped a fresh cigarette between his lips, but didn't bother to light it, knowing how the Hokage had a no smoking rule in her office. He grumbled, "Whatever it is, it must be some sort of mission since she requested that we have our subordinates with us."

"Where's that Kakashi? He's late again!" Gai mumbled as he glanced around the room, frowning. The other two jounin just shook their heads and sweatdropped. (--;)

Shikamaru yawned sleepily, then thought to himself, '_This is so troublesome...'_ He let his half-opened eyes slowly scan the room while trying to drown out Ino's incessant chatter. He was leaning against a wall near a corner with his former teammates standing next to him. As usual, Chouji was happily munching away at a bag of chips and Ino was complaining about something or other.

Shifting his sights to the left, the young chuunin could see Neji leaning against another wall with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed. Standing in front of him was his teammate and supposed rival, Lee, who was cheerfully chatting with the female member of their team, Tenten.

In the middle of the room stood Shino, who was quiet as usual. Next to the bug user was Kiba and his dog, Akamaru. Kiba, like Ino, was also complaining, only he was a bit louder about it and his little dog wasn't helping to keep the noise level down either. Softly trying to calm the loud boy was Hinata, but apparently her teammate couldn't hear her quiet voice over his own loud one.

Finally Shikamaru turned his gaze towards the windows where two people silently stood. The lazy shinobi thought to himself, '_What's up with those two?_' The two members of team 7 looked like they had been up all night. Sakura had her hands clasped in front of her and it was clear by the look on her face that she was upset about something. She kept glancing at the dark-haired boy who stood just a couple of feet away from her. Sasuke was staring out the window with an expressionless look on his face. But Shikamaru noted that the young Uchiha's hands were in tight fists.

Shikamaru was arching his brow at team 7's strange behavior when he realized something. He quickly glanced around the room again to be sure. It seemed as if a certain loudmouth ninja was missing from the small gathering. Maybe he with his sensei, who also happened to be absent from the room as well.

Suddenly, the door to the outer office opened and Kakashi entered, followed by a somewhat worried looking Iruka. All attention was drawn to the door as the two men entered. Shikamaru noticed that Naruto wasn't with them. Where was that baka?

The lazy shinobi wasn't the only one who wondered where the whiskered face boy was. A few of the other genin expected him to saunter through the door, announcing his arrival loudly, but to their surprise, he wasn't around. They all watched as Kakashi closed the door, then lead Iruka to the other jounin.

Kurenai and Asuma gazed at Iruka curiously, while Gai smirked at Kakashi and said, "Kakashi, you're late again."

The silver-haired man just gave a light shrug towards his green clothed rival. Gai gave a disgruntled snort.

The door to the Hokage's private sitting room opened, drawing everyone's attention. The younger shinobi lined up in four rows behind the jounin as Tsunade stepped out, followed by Jiraiya and her personal assistant, Shizune.

Tsunade moved behind her desk, her companions flanking her on each side. She slowly regarded the shinobi standing before her. Noticing Iruka, she sent a questioning glance towards Kakashi, who in turn, just shrugged and said simply, "He deserves to know."

That statement caused several curious glances to flicker towards the copy-ninja. Shikamaru frowned as things started to click in his genius mind. This meeting just became more than troublesome...it was downright bad and a certain blond appeared to be right in the middle of it all.

The Fifth Hokage closed her eyes for a moment and sighed before opening them again and saying, "You are all probably wondering why I summoned you here so early in the morning." Everyone was quietly listening as they all felt a strange sense of foreboding that seemed to permit the air around them. "There is a dangerous situation that needs to be taken care of before it becomes too much for us to handle. It's a situation that doesn't just affect us, but other hidden villages as well."

Iruka didn't like the sound of Tsunade's statement. The knot in his stomach seemed to increase twofold. He looked towards Kakashi and noticed the expressionless look on his face. He had asked the jounin about Naruto and he was brought to this meeting. Did that mean...? Looking towards the legendary kunoichi, he nervously cleared his throat and stepped forward, "Hokage-sama...may I ask you a question?"

Tsunade had a good hunch about what the chuunin teacher was going to ask her and she knew he wasn't going to like any answer she could offer him. Letting out another sigh, she nodded.

"Does this..." Iruka paused, glanced at the young genin who were watching quietly, then stepped closer to his Hokage and whispered almost hesitantly, "Does this 'situation' concern Naruto?"

Several feet away, standing behind Kurenai, Kiba arched a brow. His clan was known for their more developed senses and he used his heightened sense of hearing to satisfy his curiosity on what Iruka was whispering about. He frowned a bit as he heard the chuunin's question. _'Did he just say Naruto? What does that baka loudmouth have to do with anything?'_ He glanced around at his fellow genin, '_Where is he, anyways?'_

Tsunade gave a curt nod in response to Iruka's question. The shinobi's face paled a bit, making the scar across the bridge of his nose stand out more. His mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound came out. Finally, he managed to ask hoarsely, "Did the seal-" The kunoichi shook her head before he could finish his question.

Neji studied the man standing before the Hokage. Even if he couldn't see his face, he could tell by the older man's body stance that he was agitated about something. The genin also remembered the look on the chuunin's face when he first entered the room. This was starting to become a very interesting day...

Not knowing what to say anymore, Iruka moved back to stand by Kakashi. Tsunade glanced towards Jiraiya, who gave a small nod, then she looked back to the group standing before her, "I'm going to have three teams go on three different missions. The first team will be Ino, Chouji, Shino, Hinata, and led by Asuma." She gestured for the bearded jounin to step forward, then picked up a scroll from her desk and handed it to him, "Your mission is to deliver this scroll to the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village."

Several eyes widened with surprise. Although the Hidden Sand was their ally once again, there was still some hostility to be felt between both villages. Hinata and Shino both felt especially disturbed as they remembered the red-haired genin from the sand who killed so easily during the second part of the Chuunin Exam. Now their Hokage wanted them to venture into the home turf of that certain ninja? They could only hope that they didn't run into him there.

Asuma nodded, then stepped back, the scroll clutched in his hand. Tsunade continued, "The second team will be Kiba, Sakura, Lee, Tenten, and will be led by Kurenai." She picked up another scroll from her desk and handed it to the female jounin, "Your mission is to deliver this scroll to the Raikage of Hidden Cloud Village." Kurenai nodded.

Sakura couldn't help but stare at the Hokage with shock. She was being sent to the Hidden Cloud on a mission! What about Naruto? She wanted to go with Sasuke to go find their missing teammate. She opened her mouth to protest, but Tsunade firmly said, "You all are to leave on your missions in one hour. It is important that you deliver those scrolls to the kages as soon as humanly possible. You two teams are dismissed to go pack for your missions." The shinobi from both teams nodded respectfully before heading for the door. Sakura gave one last worried glance towards Sasuke before she walked out. _ 'Onegai, Sasuke-kun...come back safety...'_

Once the door was closed again, Tsunade turned her attention to the remaining shinobi lined up before her. The two genin and one rookie chuunin gazed at her expectantly, though Sasuke already knew what their mission was to be. The weary kunoichi sat in her chair and rubbed her temple. Shizune laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. Slowly, Tsunade studied each boy, her gaze lingering on Sasuke a bit before she finally said, "You three will be the last team, lead by Kakashi and Jiraiya."

Neji and Shikamaru both lifted a brow. They were going on a mission with one of the Legendary Senin? Even Iruka was surprised to hear this news. The single question that ran through their minds was: Why?

As if hearing their unvoiced question, Tsunade said, "Your mission is to retrieve Naruto and bring him back home safely. He left the village about four days ago with two others, but Jiraiya has a good idea where they will be heading. This is classified as an A-rank mission. It's imperative that you reach Naruto as soon as you can. There are those out there that are after those three. And I'm sure you're wondering why Jiraiya is part of your team. He is going with you because..." She trailed off as she stood up and moved to the window, staring at the awakening village. She wanted to tell them the reason why, but just the thought of something going horribly wrong just made her feel queasy inside. Jiraiya moved from behind the desk and stood before his newly formed team, deciding to just tell them himself why he was going along. "I'm going with you because you're not powerful enough to beat them in a fight."

Both Sasuke and Neji scowled darkly at his words, while Shikamaru continued to stand there silently agreeing with the big man, then he asked, "Who are these 'others' that are with him?"

"Gaara of the Sand and the Raikage's daughter, Yuri. They might have met up with other shinobi or they might not have, I'm not too sure at the moment."

"Why did they kidnap him?" Neji wanted to know.

"They didn't kidnap him...he went with them willingly," Jiraiya stated grimly, earning himself startled glances from the three boys.

"Why would he want to do that? They're both nin from two different villages. Maybe they used some sort of genjutsu on him," Shikamaru said, not wanting to believe that Naruto was in his right mind when he left.

"Iie, that brat knew what he was doing. He left a note for me saying that he was going to go train with Jiraiya," Tsunade quietly said, still staring out the window.

"Even if he left on his own, why would we have to worry about fighting them? I've fought against that girl and she was a poor fighter. Gaara's strong, I admit, but he's not unbeatable. Naruto beat him when the Sand attacked last year and that dobe wouldn't even think of attacking us with bad intent. I know him and he wouldn't do something dishonorable like that," Sasuke reasoned, though he wasn't too sure if he believed his own words.

Tsunade turned from the window to pin the young sharingan user with a sharp gaze and said sharply, "Do you know him? _Really_ know him? I can tell you this right now, kozou, there's a lot more to him that you don't see. You don't know the boy behind the mask and it's no use pretending that you do. You don't truly _know_ him."

The boys were taken aback by the fierceness in the kunoichi's words, while the adults just exchanged worried glances with one another. Their Hokage was taking this matter very personally. The boys had no idea of why she did. What was Naruto's connection to the great leader of their village?

Pushing his hesitation aside, Neji quietly asks, "You mentioned that there are other people after Naruto and his...companions. Why?" He paused for a moment, then, "Is it because of that strange chakra he used during the Chuunin exam?"

It became very silent in the room. The adults knew what Neji was talking about and the two others were curious to hear the answer to the Hyuuga boy's question. Everyone stared at the Hokage.

Tsunade turned her head slightly to stare at the five portraits on the far wall. The Hokage portraits. Steadily, she gazed at the photo between her own and her old sensei's. Softly, she murmured, "Gomen ne, Yondaime." Then she moved next to Jiraiya and faced the boys, "Since this is such a dangerous mission, it's only fair that you know what you will be going up against. It's time that you know the truth about Naruto..."

* * *

**A/N:** Gomen, gomen...it took me forever to update. apparently, the school youkai sank it's fangs into me and sucked all the creative brain power out. I feel like I'm all tapped out. sigh...this chapter was boring, I know and I would've added more, but whenever I tried, it just didn't turn out right. well, as soon as I get this pile of homework down to a minimum, I'll finish the next chapter...I already have the first part down, I just need to finish up the rest of it. it'll be mostly about our three lil youkai, so don't worry about them not being in this chapter. oh, and I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed. it brightens up my day whenever I read them, so please keep reviewing. let me know if I got any of the characters too ooc, ne? til next chapter, ja ne! 


	11. chapter 10

**A/N:** ah...gomen, gomen! I honestly didn't mean to leave you guys with cliffhanger and for so long too! To be honest, I didn't even realize it was cliffhanger until I posted it. I was going to write more after that part, but decided not to and I forgot that I left it like that. :bows: onegai, please forgive me for that and for taking so long with this chapter. I've been so busy with school and stuff, I found it hard to find time to work on this chapter. Well...that and I had some writer's block. :sigh: Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Read on!

**Disclaimer: **come on, we all know who owns Naruto, ne?

**Translations:**

naruhodo, sou ka: I see

ganbatte: good luck, do your best

minna: everyone

sugoi: amazing, wow, cool

kitsune: fox

Sanndaime: The Third (Hokage)

neko: cat

kuroneko: black cat

tanuki: raccoon-dog (I know Shukaku is a badger demon, but it's just easier to say tanuki. besides...badger...tanuki...same difference, ne?)

Kami-sama: God

* * *

**Three**

_by: Lostlily_

**Chapter 10**

_-Konoha Village-_

It was still early morning as Sakura carefully packed her bag for her mission. Though her movements were quick and automatic, her mind was drifting at a much more slower pace. She could barely think about anything else but the fact that she was being sent to the Thunder country while Sasuke was being sent to retrieve Naruto.

Closing her pack, she turned to her desk to pick up her weapons pouch, but her hand stops midway as her gaze gets caught by the picture frame next to it. Her team photo. She studied the picture, noting the carefree look upon their faces. Although Sasuke's face was blank as usual as he ignored the irritated look that Naruto sent his way, Sakura knew that they were still happy nonetheless. She could understand it though. That picture was taken shortly after their mission in the Wave country. It was a time that taught them how important friendship was to being strong. But things became very different once they entered the Chuunin Exam.

She strapped on her pouch and slung on her backpack. She took one last look at the photo, then walked out her room. As she exited her house and began to head for the village gate, she became lost in thought again. When was it that her team began to fall apart? When Orochimaru gave Sasuke that cursed seal? Somehow, deep in her heart, she knew her team had begun to drift before that incident. She guessed that it started the day before they registered for the exam, when they first met the sand-nin.

Sasuke met one person after another who had heard of his clan and they were all eager to fight against the surviving Uchiha. It brought the battle-lust out of her dark-haired teammate. It also seemed that all the attention he got just made the tension between him and Naruto grow worse than usual. On top of all that, Sakura herself was facing her own insecurities in her shinobi abilities. As time went on, they drifted further and further apart. She thought that her team would be no more after the fight between Naruto and Sasuke on the hospital roof. For two weeks, she lived in fear that they would be separated, but thankfully, the boys settled their differences.

Sakura stopped and stared at the ground. Even though her team had resumed their shinobi work, taking on C and D rank missions, things felt different between them all. Sasuke had started training much more harder than before, pushing himself to the limit. Sakura improved at a much more slower pace and she usually caught herself thinking too much. She also found that she had begun to view her blond teammate in a different light. After all, he risked everything to save her and she couldn't help but acknowledge the strength in him. Even Naruto had changed. Though he was still Konoha's number one loudmouth ninja, there would be moments where the happy, loud, idiotic mask would fade for a moment and a glimpse of the Naruto inside would show. But that Naruto would disappear so fast that it was almost believable that he was never even there...

"Sakura, you forehead girl, what are you doing just standing there?"

The pink-haired girl lifted her head to see Ino standing in front of her, also carrying a backpack. She felt the familiar fire of rivalry stir up within as she frowned and retorted, "It's none of your business, Ino-pig!" Then she continued on walking towards her destination, paying no mind to the other girl who began to walk along side of her.

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Ino glanced at Sakura curiously as they walked. She knew something was bothering the girl, but she didn't know what. Seeing the other kunoichi so upset kinda worried her.

Even though it was hard to see, both girls were still very good friends, despite their apparent rivalry over Sasuke. Ino, especially, couldn't help but continue to watch over the girl just like she used to when they were younger. She knew the other girl could take care of herself and that she learned how to fight on her own, but there was still something vulnerable about her.

The blond kunoichi wanted to ask her friend what was bothering her, but she decided against it. They were both about to embark on important missions and upsetting the girl any further might become too much of a distraction. Being a distracted ninja during a mission wasn't a good thing to be. So Ino kept her questions to herself as they both approached the gate where their teams stood waiting.

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Hinata watched as Sakura and Ino arrived. She was standing next to Kiba and Shino by one of the large gate doors. Akamaru was resting comfortably on Kiba's head. Chouji, who was standing close by was munching away at a bag of pork rinds. Also standing close by were Tenten and Lee, though once the other girls reached them, Lee immediately came to Sakura's side, greeting her excitedly. Ino just rolled her eyes and walked over to Chouji.

After suffering though several of Lee's teeth-pinging smiles, Sakura glanced around and asked, "Where are the jounin?"

"They haven't arrived yet," Tenten with a slight shrug.

"Sou ka..."

"I wonder what kind of mission the others got," Lee said with a tiny tinge of jealousy.

"It's probably some mission about Naruto," Kiba comments. All attention suddenly focuses on him.

Hinata softly asks, "Ano...Why do you say that, Kiba-kun?"

"I overheard Iruka-sensei asking the Hokage about him."

Sakura shifted her gaze to the ground. She thought back to the night before when they gathered in the Hokage's office.

_-flashback-_

_The Legendary Senin had a grim look on his face as he said, "We have to get to those three before they find what they're looking for."_

_Sasuke scowled, "And what is it that they're looking for?"_

_"The Akatsuki."_

_"The Akatsuki?" Sakura repeated slowly, not knowing what it was._

_"NANI!" Sasuke roared angrily as his sharingan suddenly appeared with his outburst of emotion._

_"Sasuke, now is not the time to lose control," Kakashi warned._

_"Hai, remember what happened the last time?" Jiraiya asked. _

_With a great amount of effort, the dark-haired boy forced himself to calm down, making his sharingan eyes disappear. Sakura just gazed at him worriedly. _

_Kakashi turned his attention to Tsunade, "Hokage-sama, what are we going to do about this situation?"_

_The legendary kunoichi was silent for a moment, then she quietly said, "After hearing your report today it was obvious that something was wrong, but now that Naruto is gone as well and with those two others...this has become dangerous. We can't let the Akatsuki get to them. If they do..." She trailed off, then she shook her head, trying to rid her mind of the disturbing images that bombarded her. "I'll send a team after them. The Kazekage and Raikage have to be notified as well." She gazed at Sasuke and Sakura who were just standing there quietly listening. "Go home and get some rest."_

_"I would like to be on the team that goes after Naruto," Sasuke says, not asking, but just stating._

_Tsunade stares at the boy, then says, "I would like both of you to report here tomorrow an hour before dawn. Teams will be assigned then." Sakura nods respectfully, then looks towards Sasuke. The young Uchiha was still for a moment, then nods as well._

_-flashback-_

Once again, Ino glanced at the pink-haired girl curiously. _'Did she know about this?'_

"D-did something happen to N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata questioned; her voice, if possible, even more softer than before. Before Kiba could answer, there was a poof of smoke and the two jounin sensei were standing there.

"Is everyone ready?" Kurenai asked. The genin all nodded, but she sensed a slight tension in the air. She sent a questioning glance towards Asuma who just shrugged as he lit the cigarette in his mouth. Then the female jounin suddenly glanced towards the village as she spied three figures walking towards the gate.

The others followed her gaze, curious to see what caught her attention. It was the last team, but there was no sign of their team leaders.

Sakura murmured, "Sasuke-kun..."

Ino commented, "Hmm...looks like Shikamaru and Neji-san are with him. There's a strange expression on their faces, ne?" The other genin glanced at the two girls curiously, surprised not to see them rushing towards the young Uchiha like they would normally do. Then they looked back to the arriving boys. Maybe it was understandable that the girls didn't run to Sasuke. All three of them looked...unapproachable.

"Where are your team leaders?" Kurenai asks.

"Right here," Jiraiya answers as he appears behind the boys with a poof of smoke. Accompanying him were Kakashi, Gai and Tsunade.

The silver-haired jounin gives a simple, "Yo"

Lee, his bottom lip trembling slightly, cried out, "Gai-sensei! Will you be going with them as well?"

Gai gave his beloved student a thumbs up sign and a teeth-pinging smile, "Iie, I shall stay here to help arrange a defense for the village." Then he turned his attention to his rival, "Ah, Kakashi, now we must pause in a our eternal rivalry for the sake of our noble duties for our beautiful village and for the sake of those in their springtime youth!"

Kakashi glanced lazily at Gai, "Hmm? Did you say something?"

Tears stream down the green-clad jounin's face as he pulls at his hair and cries out, "Iiiieee! I have lost once again to your cool attitude!"

Tenten slaps at her forehead, Lee cries on behalf of his mentor, and everyone else, but the three newly arrived boys, sweatdropped at the display.

Tsunade shook her head then addressed the team leaders, "I have some last minute instructions to go over with you." Then the adults went off to the side to talk. The other genin finally approached the three boys who had been silent since their arrival.

"Ne, Shikamaru, what's your mission?" Ino asked bluntly. The rookie chuunin just stared at her as if she were speaking another language. Chouji paused in his eating to study his friend. To his surprise, he found that the normally lazy boy was all tensed up. What happened to make him that way?

After a long bout of silence, Neji finally said with a calm he didn't feel, "We're not at liberty to discuss the details of our mission." That statement sounded very ominous to all of them.

Sakura had been staring at Sasuke since he arrived and her heart had been clenched with worry the whole time. He looked...disturbed. Did something happen? Was it about Naruto? Not being able to handle the tension any longer, she began to say his name, "Sasu-"

"It's time to move out!" Asuma called out. All the genin and the one chuunin quietly joined their team leaders.

Tsunade let her gaze drift over their young faces before her eyes settled on the three boys she had spoken to earlier. She knew they were still in shock over what she had told them. She could only hope that she had not made a mistake in telling them. She closed her eyes for moment, then she opened them said the only two words she had to offer to the three teams, "Ganbatte, minna."

After giving their Hokage nods of affirmation, the three teams were off. Kurenai's team headed northeast towards the Thunder country, Asuma's team headed southwest towards the Wind country, and Jiraiya's team headed for the northwest towards the Earth country.

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_-small country between the Earth and Fire countries-_

"Those grass-nin didn't have a chance once I knocked them down with my super powered kick!" Naruto boasted loudly.

"Sugoi..." Yuri said with wide-eyed awe.

Gaara resisted the overwhelming urge to roll his eyes as he listened to the blonde talk about his experiences during the Chuunin exam. The red-haired boy watched as his companions continued to chat from their perch on the edge of a small cliff. He, himself, was leaning on a spot against the rock wall close to them. As the two chatted on, the sand-nin began to study them, as he found himself doing a lot lately.

First he studied Naruto, who was gesturing wildly to emphasize certain parts of his story. Gaara remembered the surprise he felt when he discovered that the blond boy was the vessel for the Kyuubi no Kitsune. But looking at him now, the sand-nin could see certain kitsune-like qualities in the boy. Like the way he grins so happily and from the stories that he's told them, it was apparent that he liked playing tricks as well. There was more to the other boy than that. There was also a warm light within him that seemed to attract and reach out to those who were lost in the cold darkness. He watched as Naruto tried to act out a move from his story, but the blond ended up tripping on his own feet and falling on his ass. The whiskered boy laughed with embarrassment, then continued on with his story.

Then Gaara turned his attention to Yuri, who was hanging on Naruto's every word. He had learned quite a few thing about her from the time they spent traveling together. Apparently, she had led a very sheltered life. He could see it in the way that she takes in her surroundings with such awe and wonder. There was also the childlike innocence she held in her eyes. She reminded him of Naruto in that way. Perhaps that was why those two got along so well. After all, kitsunes and nekos were playful by nature, ne?

Suddenly the young sand-nin became aware of a new presence appearing a yard or two away from them. Yuri noticed as well as she glanced in that direction. Naruto, noticing the girl's distraction, curiously looked to see what caught her attention. When his cerulean eyes landed on the cloak-clad figure standing there, he wasn't sure whether he should've reached for a kunai or not. Both his companions weren't attacking the stranger, so he had to assume that this was the person they were waiting for. But to be sure, he asked in a not so quiet voice, "Ne, ne, Yuri-chan, who is this guy?"

Yuri stood up and smiled pleasantly, "Naruto-kun, this is Akuma-aniki. He's the one we've been waiting for."

The blond looked towards the young man who was staring at him with cold magenta eyes. He fought back a slight shiver of apprehension as he murmured softly, "Naruhodo..."

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Five figures swiftly leapt from tree limb to tree limb with great urgency. In the lead was a large, white-haired man, known as Jiraiya. According to his sources, he knew where his unofficial student, Naruto was headed along with his new companions. Closely following the legendary senin were Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru. Kakashi took up the rear.

From his watchful position behind everyone, Kakashi noted that although the three boys were alert to danger, their minds were most likely still occupied with the meeting they had that morning with the Hokage. He knew they were disturbed by what Tsunade had revealed to them about their blond comrade. He thought back to the conversation...

_-flashback-_

_"Since this is such a dangerous mission, it's only fair that you know what you will be going up against. It's time that you know the truth about Naruto..."_

_Kakashi and Gai's eyes widened with surprise while Iruka cried out with a horrified expression on his face, "Hokage-sama, iie! It's forbid-"_

_Tsunade held her hand up to silence the brown-haired chuunin, "These boys will be heading into a situation more dangerous than they have ever been in before. It's only fair that they have the knowledge of what they'll be going up against if something goes wrong. Will you deny them the right to prepare themselves properly?"_

_Iruka's hands clenched into fists as he closed his eyes for moment, then he slowly opened them and quietly said with a pained look, "Iie...I can't deny them the right to be prepared for what they might have to face...but, this is something that Naruto should be sharing with them. That's his right, isn't it?"_

_"Hai, it is, but I have no choice now. They must be told." Tsunade turned her attention back to the three boys who had just stood there silently watching the adults converse amongst each other. The tension in the air thickened as the legendary kunoichi addressed them again, "You boys may have noticed that Naruto isn't quite like other shinobi, ne?" They nodded curtly. "I'm sure you all have heard the story of how the Yondaime defeated the youkai, Kyuubi no Kitsune, about fourteen years ago..." More nods. What did this have to do with Naruto? "Well, that fateful night, Yondaime gave his life, not to destroy the youkai, but to seal it. He sealed it within the body of a newborn baby. That boy child was to be seen as a hero, yet many shinobi had lost their loved ones to the kitsune youkai and though it was sealed away, they still saw it in the boy, hating him. Seeing this, Sandaime made it forbidden to ever speak of this secret that this boy held within him. Not even the boy was to know this secret and he didn't know until he was twelve. He learned to accept what was in him and he never let it stop him from pursuing his dream. The boy I speak about, as I'm sure you know now, is Uzumaki Naruto. It may not look like it, but he holds a tremendous power inside and that power is easily equaled by the two others he left here with. Like Naruto, Gaara and Yuri have youkai within them as well. Gaara is possessed by the tanuki youkai, Shukaku, and Yuri has the neko youkai, Kuroneko, within her. The power within them is something the Akatsuki wants badly and if they get their hands on them...Kami-sama help us all."_

_All three boys held a look of shock on their faces. Then the shock faded into something different for each of them. Shikamaru was frowning puzzlement, Neji had a strange look of acceptance on his face, and Sasuke was shaking with fury. _

_Tsunade sighed with weariness. Iruka softly spoke up, "Hokage-sama, I would like to go with them to retrieve Naruto."_

_The kunoichi shook her head, "Iie, I need you here with the other seasoned chuunin to help prepare the village."_

_"Prepare?"_

_"Prepare in the event that the Akatsuki achieves their goal and decide to start attacking shinobi villages."_

_-end flashback-_

It was decided that Gai stay behind with the other jounin and chuunin to help strengthen the village's defenses. Kakashi could only hope that there would be no need for such a thing. He went back to studying the young ninja boys before him. When the time came for them to face Naruto again, what will happen?

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As he moved from limb to limb, Shikamaru briefly glanced up at what he could see of the sky through the leaves and branches. He never would have thought life would be this complicated when he first decided to be a ninja. Thinking back to what the Hokage told them that day, he found it amazing that such a fearsome thing like the Kyuubi could be in a person like Naruto. But now that he really thought of it, some things just started making sense to him. He thought back to that day that he and Naruto faced Gaara in Lee's hospital room the day before the final Chuunin exam.

**_"I have a real monster in me...I won't lose to the likes of him!" Naruto said as he steadily stared at the sand-nin before him._**

**_"A monster eh...? Then...it's the same for me," Gaara replied, returning the blond's stare, his face lacking any hint of emotion._**

The words they exchanged confused him then, but now he understood. But...Naruto isn't really a monster...is he?

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He just knew this day would turn out interesting. Neji had to admit to himself that he was extremely surprised about what the Hokage told them about Naruto. Such a burden that the blond shinobi must've endured day in and day out all of his life. The young Hyuuga thought back to the day he faced Naruto in the Chuunin finals.

_**You could never understand what it's like to be burdened with a symbol you could never rid yourself of!" Neji said with rage as he pointed at the younger boy.**_

_**Naruto's eyes darkened for moment, before he gave a smirk towards the Hyuuga genius, his body trembling from having his chakra sealed off. As blood trickled out the corners of his mouth, he said shakily yet a slight bit mockingly, "Yeah...I can...And...? So what?"**_

At the time, Neji thought the other boy was taunting him with false bravado. Yet there was a an understanding the blond's eyes that the older boy never comprehended. Then when Naruto called forth chakra, a chakra unlike the kind he had before, Neji felt a strange mixture of shock and a tiny bit of fear. Now he knew what it was that he saw in that red swirl of chakra that seemed to seep out from the blond shinobi's navel...that face he saw was the face of the Kyuubi.

Now as he moved through the trees, he wondered at what their destiny was to be. Will they be destined to fail or will they succeed? Then he gave a sudden smirk. Their fate will be whatever they make it to be...Naruto taught him that.

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There was fire of rage burning within Uchiha Sasuke. A fire of rage and an icy coldness of betrayal. Mixed together, these feelings left the sharingan user numb inside. Kyuubi...Naruto had the Kyuubi sealed within him all this time and he never bothered to tell his teammates about it. It was unreal to think that such evil power resided inside a person who brought so much goodness to others. It was unreal, yet...real. Sasuke should've known. He should've suspected something when they first faced Orochimaru in the Forest of Death.

**_Sasuke, paralyzed with fear, stared as Naruto stood before him, stopping the giant snake's deadly attack with just his body and a kunai. Naruto's low voice reached his ears, "Oi...You...Alright..." The blond slowly lifted his head and looked at his terrified teammate with eyes that were as red as blood and black slit pupils, "Scaredy-cat?" _**

He should have realized it then that there was more to Naruto than he knew about, but thoughts of _That Man_ and his fight with Orochimaru took up his attention. Yet the power he felt in his teammate that day was unlike anything he ever felt before, then he felt it again when Naruto fought against Gaara. Why didn't he question him then? Why hadn't the blond explained himself? So many times...so many chances and yet...nothing.

He thought he had a friend in Naruto. Someone he could fight side by side with, someone he thought he could trust, and someone he could measure himself against to show that he was strong and powerful. But he was wrong. Now he knew the truth and it was eating him up inside.

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he felt his angry emotions fill him, almost making his sharingan appear. Such power within that baka...it just wasn't fair...

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Jiraiya winced slightly as he sensed the conflicting emotions emitting from the boys behind him. He didn't envy Tsunade the duty she took upon herself to tell these young ones the truth about Naruto. He hoped that by the time they catch with the kozou, they'll have their emotions settled and be mentally prepared for battle.

_'And there will be a battle,'_ The senin thought grimly, no doubt about that. For all their sakes, he hoped that Naruto hadn't already fallen into the hands of their enemies.

So onward the five shinobi went, knowing at the pace they were going, they were likely to catch up with the loudmouth blond within two days or less. Kami-sama help them if they don't reach him and his companions in time...

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Naruto blinked with surprise as he stared at the sight before him. Canyons, big and small, were spread out like a maze as far as the eye could see. He never would have thought there would be such a thing on the other side of the mountain of which he stood at the top of. Uneasily, he glanced towards Akuma, wondering if it was safe to trust him. The guy creeped him out for some reason. Naruto shifted his gaze to Gaara, who was standing next to him. Apparently, the red-haired ninja seemed just was wary of the cloud-nin as he was.

"Is something wrong, Naruto?" Yuri asked curiously as she looked at him from her position at Akuma's side.

The blond gave a nervous giggle as he scratched the back of his head, "I-iie! I was just wondering if we'll find what we're looking for here."

"Well, according to those ninja we...ano...'questioned' before, there's supposed to be a secret village somewhere in these canyons for bandits, mercenaries, and even missing-nin. The scroll we're looking for should be somewhere hidden there," The dark-haired girl said as she turned to gaze at the landscape of dirt and rocks.

Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly. The information they beat out of the ninja they came across seemed accurate enough...maybe a little too accurate. Something felt wrong about this whole situation. It was a feeling he had from the start and it just grew steadily as thing progressed. He didn't trust the cloud jounin that Yuri seemed to have so much faith in. He knew Naruto felt the same way. Gaara wasn't going to let his guard down for a single moment around this Akuma guy. He didn't like the look in his eyes.

With his dark and low voice, Akuma said, "Let's go."

The players were set and finally put into motion. Let the game begin.

* * *

**A/N:** So many emotions flying everywhere...I hope it's not too confusing. So hard to keep everyone in character. I hope I did it right. I tried to make this chapter long, but this is the best I can do at the moment. Ano...so yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and hopefully it satisfied your curiosity about how our genius boys reacted to the news about Naruto. I might elaborate more on their feelings later. Oh and hey, I finally got a deviant art account and put some pictures I drew up there. I have a picture of Yuri there so if any of you are curious to see how she looks, check it out. The link is in my profile. Well, I'm pretty tired now and I need to continue brainstorming for the next chapter. Please review 'cause I love reading them, you people really make me smile. Ja ne! 


	12. author's note

I'm sorry but this isn't a chapter. Yeah, yeah, you've seen tons of these kind of things before. I just wanted everyone to know that I'm still alive and kickin' and that I'm **not** abandoning this story. **I will finish it no matter what**. It's just that I've been experiencing many problems with getting the latest chapter out. But I swear that I will have it done. I can't tell you when or how, but I will do it. So please wish me luck. On another note, I've cleaned up my earlier chapters so they should have less mistakes and should sound much better. Thanks for your time and once again, I'll try to do my best to update soon. Ja ne!


	13. chapter 11

**A/N: ** Sorry for the ultra late update. You probably want to read the chapter already, so on with story...

**Disclaimer: **you know the drill...

**Translations:**

tachi: and the others, and them, and his/her/their group (something along those lines)

keikoku no maigo tamashii: valley of lost souls (probably didn't word this right, but that's what I was aiming for)

keikoku: valley, canyon, ravine

maigo: lost

tamashii: soul, spirit

senbon: throwing needles

usuratonkachi: total moron, moron of morons dumbass (at least I think that's what it means)

gama: toad

gaki: brat

Tsuchikage: earth shadow (kage of the hidden stone village)

harahetta: I'm hungry (heh...I've been watching too much Saiyuki)

betsuni/nandemonai (sp?): nothing, it's nothing (sometimes even means whatever)

koketsu: tiger's denjaws of death, dangerous place (strange word, ne?)

kagiru: to restrict, limit, confine

maboroshi: dream

* * *

**Three**

_by: Lostlily_

**Chapter 11**

_-Small country between the Fire and Earth countries-_

Jiraiya's team stopped just at the edge of the forest. They had been traveling nonstop for a day and a half now and the boys looked like they were about to collapse. Both Jiraiya and Kakashi were fairing much better as they were used to traveling with little rest.

Kakashi glanced at the panting boys, wondering if they were truly prepared for their mission. Things were only going to get harder. He looked towards Jiraiya, who was silently frowning at the forest. If the mission was going to end up as bad as he felt it was going to, then he and Jiraiya would have to fight to the best of their capabilities to ensure that everyone on their team will survive. It was a fight he was not looking forward to.

Shikamaru resisted the urge to just lay on the ground, knowing that if he did, he would just fall asleep and not wake up for many hours. Once he managed to catch his breath, which took a bit longer for him than it did for Sasuke and Neji, he glanced towards forest. Using his photographic memory, he mentally studied a map of the countries that he saw in a book once, in his head. Just at the end of the forest would be a small mountain, which was the border between the country they were in and the Earth country.

He knew they were close to catching up to Naruto, but he wasn't sure exactly how close. Jiraiya never told them exactly where they were headed. So he finally decided to ask, "Oi, Jiraiya-sama! Where are Naruto-tachi heading towards?"

The big, white-haired man was silent for a minute and then he finally replied, "Keikoku no Maigo Tamashii just at the border of the Earth Country." He never once took his attention away from the forest.

Kakashi soon found himself doing the same. He could feel it. Something happened...something bad. But what?

Jiraiya gave the signal to move on and at once they were leaping from tree branch to tree branch. It wasn't too long until they stopped again. Only this time it wasn't to rest. They stood upon the branches of some trees that overlooked a tiny clearing. It was the smell that stopped them. They all leapt to the ground and kept a small distance away from the half-eaten corpses within the clearing.

"Apparently a fight occurred here a couple of days ago," Kakashi observed. From what he could see, there were two bodies that were emitting the rotten stench of death and decay. One had senbon protruding from his neck and the other had a kunai sticking out of his chest. The ravens that had been picking at the bodies flew away as they approached.

Neji held no expression on his face, but inside, he could feel his stomach churn from the smell. He turned his sight away from the bodies to the ground, then he gave a sudden frown. He knelt down for a closer look. _'Sand? Then that means...' _"They were here," he quietly said. The others glanced towards the Hyuuga boy, who had sand sifting through his slender fingers.

Sasuke studied the area. There were kunai scattered everywhere and on a nearby tree was the rusty stain of blood. He closed his eyes as memories flash through his mind...

_Blood splattered everywhere. On the ground...the walls...windows. The pools of the dark, crimson liquid beneath each body of his very own people. The coppery scent filled his senses. The gruesome sight implanted itself in his young mind. He ran home. Home, the representation of safety, ne? But it wasn't safe at home. All he found were the bodies of his parents and the lone figure of his traitorous nii-san..._

A low growl rumbled from his throat as he angrily punched the tree. Now was not the time to be thinking about such things. He had to focus. He had to find that usuratonkachi and drag him, along with his demonic little friends, back to the Hokage. Maybe after that, he'll beat the crap out of the blond baka and prove that he was stronger than him, youkai or no youkai.

Jiraiya arched a brow at the volatile Uchiha boy, then he glanced at the forever serious Hyuuga, and lastly at the super lazy Nara kid. The gama senin suddenly found himself missing the simple and happy personality of his blond pupil. He let out a sigh as he thought to himself, _'We better catch up to that gaki soon. These boys are no fun at all!' _

Kakashi cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention, "We should continue on."

"What about these guys?" Shikamaru inquired as he nodded towards the stone-nin corpses.

"We'll be sure to send the Tsuchikage a message about this once we've completed our mission," Kakashi drawled in that strange way of his.

"How troublesome..."

"Let's go," Jiraiya said as he jumped to the trees once more. The others followed suit, except for Sasuke who paused by one of the bodies and pulled out the kunai that was sticking out from it's chest. His eyes narrowed as he saw the faint swirl mark near the hilt of the weapon. Slipping the blade into his pouch, he leapt into the trees to catch up with the others. As he flew from branch to branch, Naruto's voice echoed in his mind.

_What are you afraid of?_

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_-Hidden Sand Village-_

"Harahetta..." Chouji mumbled as they walked down the road towards the Kazekage's tower.

Asuma's team had arrived barely an hour ago. Though everyone was exhausted, they didn't bother to rest once entering the village. Wanting to hurry back to their own country, the small group headed immediately towards the tower where they were told the Kazekage resided in.

"Shh!" Ino hissed at her teammate as she elbowed him. "Now is not the time to worry about food!"

Hinata gave a nervous glance around as Chouji continued to mumble under his breath while Ino shot glares at him. The pale-eyed girl noticed how different the Sand Village was compared to their own.

Konoha was so green and practically bursting with life. People would be bustling around busily or cheerfully chatting with one another. Even with the damages from the war last year, one could tell that it was a very prosperous ninja village. The Hidden Sand appeared to be almost the opposite. The people seemed weary and the buildings were worn with cracks. The sun that was beating down upon them unmercifully just made the sand that was everywhere more glaringly obvious. All in all, it wasn't a very pleasant atmosphere.

Ino turned her attention away from the mumbling boy once she noticed the look on the younger girl's face, "Ne, Hinata, what's with you? You've been jumpier than usual every since we got here."

Fidgeting with the strap of her bag absently, she said softly, "Gomen, Ino-san. I-it's just that this place makes me feel a bit nervous." That was only half the reason she was so jumpy. The blond girl just nodded with understanding. After all, their villages had barely just formed a new alliance and the Sand had taken part in the attack against their village the year before. It was only natural that they should feel uneasy.

"He's not here," Shino stated in his usual low-toned voice.

Hinata's pale eyes widened with surprise while Chouji and Ino just blinked at the bug boy with confusion.

Chouji scratched his head as he asked, "Who's not here?"

"That guy with the powerful chakra and the killing intent to match."

"Eh?" Ino muttered, then she blinked again with even more confusion. "What guy? What are you two talking about," blue eyes narrowed with suspicion towards the two members of team eight.

The young Hyuuga gave a small shiver as Shino said, "The one that Sasuke faced during the final Chuunin exam."

Both Ino and Chouji looked around with the same nervousness that Hinata displayed earlier. They remembered that guy. The guy that almost killed Lee during the preliminary matches. Lee had fought with everything he had and in the end, the sand-nin still walked away without a scratch. They could only hope they didn't run into him. He was from this village after all. Then the bug user's earlier comment suddenly hits the blond kunoichi, "Wait a minute. How do you know he's not here?"

"I sent some bugs to scout the village when we arrived and they didn't detect any of that guy's chakra anywhere."

"We're here," Asuma said as he rolled his unlit cigarette from one corner of his mouth to the other. The group stopped in front of the two story building before they were quickly escorted to the Kazekage's chambers by two sand anbu. Many passing sand-nin glanced at them with a mixture of curiosity and wariness. Once in the Kazekage's chambers, they knelt on the large mat placed before the curtain that veiled the Sand Village leader.

After squinting for a moment at the silhouette, Asuma cleared his throat and said gruffly, "Hokage-sama has sent us here to deliver a message concerning a certain shinobi from your village. She requires an immediate reply." Then he presented the scroll that he was to deliver. One of the sand-nin came forward and took the scroll, then handed it to the man behind the curtain. Everyone waited in silence as the Kazekage opened the scroll and began to quickly read it. Suddenly, they heard low hiss, "That kuso gaki!"

Hinata clutched her hands together tightly, Ino and Chouji fidgeted uncomfortably, Shino just sat there passively, and Asuma arched a brow. The Kazekage tossed the scroll to the side and said, "I will send a team to go back with you to your village. I will follow with an entourage once I have settled a few things here. The team will meet you at the gate." The leaf nin bowed their heads respectfully, then exited.

As they headed back to the village gate, Ino asked, "Asuma-sensei, why is the Kazekage going to our village?"

"Because the Hokage wants to talk to him," Asuma answered.

"About the alliance between our villages?"

"Iie. Don't worry about it. It doesn't concern you guys." Then the jounin muttered under his breath, "At least I hope it won't."

"What was that?"

"Betsuni."

Ino looked at her sensei with suspicion, but decided not to comment any further since they were already approaching the gate. They had waited for about half an hour before the sand team that was to travel back with them arrived. To their great surprise, they happened to recognize the team. Ino, of course, couldn't keep her shock from being known, "It's them! That girl that Shikamaru fought and her teammate." Hinata gave in involuntary shiver as the sand team reached them.

Baki started to discuss something with Asuma and they both didn't appear to be happy about anything. Kankuro had a sour look on his face as he muttered, "These gaki again." Temari didn't even bother to acknowledge the young genin. Actually, it seemed like there was something on her mind. Something that was troubling her.

Once the discussion between the jounin was over, both teams left, eager to just get everything done and over with.

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_-Hidden Cloud Village-_

The Raikage was not happy. He clenched his hands, crumpling the scroll he just read. Standing before him, with her head bowed respectfully, was Kurenai. Biting back at the fury he could feel rising within, he said to her, "Tell your Hokage that I will come once my..._daughter_," he almost winced at the word, "is found and captured."

Kurenai nodded, "Arigato for your time, Raikage-sama." Then she silently exited. Once she was gone, the Raikage ripped the scroll in half in a fit of anger. Heads were gonna roll for this act of treachery...

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While Kurenai was meeting with the Raikage, her genin team was instructed to wait outside of the building, which do not make them very happy. But their unhappiness didn't get in the way of their curiosity. After all, none of them have ever been to the Lightning Country before and they didn't know anyone who's been within the walls of the Hidden Cloud Village since the incident that happened with the Hyuuga clan eleven years ago.

Looking around, they noticed that the buildings appeared to have a fair amount of space between them and what really puzzled them were the odd metal towers that were set up here and there. Akamaru curiously sniffed at one of the nearby towers and then yelped with surprise as he received a sudden static shock. With fur standing on end, the small dog hightailed back to Kiba and climbed into in his jacket. A short distance away, an old man sitting on a bench called out, "Careful there. You don't want to get too close to that lightning tower." The genin team walked over to the old man. Upon studying, he appeared to be just an old citizen taking a rest.

"Lightning tower? Is that what it is?" Tenten asked.

"Hai. Since the Hidden Cloud Village is located on the highest grounds of the Lightning Country, we tend to have many severe thunder storms. The lightning towers are placed all around the village for the safety of the villagers. You may also have noticed that all the buildings are set apart from each other," The young genin nodded, except for Kiba, who was too busy trying to smooth down Akamaru's fur. "Well, they were set up that way so that if one building were to get hit by lightning and catch on fire, then there would be less of a chance of the fire spreading to the surrounding buildings."

Sakura stared up at the lightning tower, but her thoughts weren't on it. In fact, at the first mention of the word lightning just brought her mind back to Sasuke. _'Will Sasuke have to use his chidori during his mission? Will his cursed seal activate again?' _

"Sakura-san?" Lee softly called out to her, once he noticed the distressed look in her spring green eyes.

The pink-haired girl blinked with surprise, then glanced towards the older boy, "A-ah, hai, Lee-san?"

"Are you alright? You look like something's bothering you."

"Nandemonai. I'm fine," She said with an obviously strained smile.

The thick-browed boy's eyes took on a look of understanding as he quietly said, "You're worried about Sasuke-kun, aren't you?"

The false smile quickly faded from Sakura's lips. Her gaze slipped downward as she whispered, "Gomen ne. I know I should be focusing on this mission, but..."

"You still can't help but worry about your teammate, correct?"

"...Hai."

Lee gave her an encouraging smile, "That's why I think Sakura-san is the greatest. Sakura-san has the most kindest heart. Such beauty inside and out!" Then he gave her the patented good guy pose with his teeth-pinging smile and thumbs up sign, "Don't worry about Sasuke-kun. He's a strong shinobi. I believe that whatever happens, he will return back home safely!"

Sakura stared at the older boy for moment, then gave a small tearful smile and nodded, "Hai. Arigato, Lee-san."

It was at that moment that Kiba suddenly asked the pink-haired girl, "What happened to Naruto?"

Startled, she stuttered, "N-nani?"

Kiba walked up to the two, keeping his gaze on Sakura as he said, "He wasn't there in the Hokage's office, so where is he? What happened to him?"

"Nothing happened to him. He wasn't feeling well, so Tsunade-sama probably didn't summon him." The young girl was always good of thinking of believable excuses on the spot. Tenten joined them, finding interest in their choice of topic.

"You're lying."

Taking offensive on Sakura's behalf, Lee pointed at the younger boy and said, "How dare you accuse Sakura-san of lying!"

Kiba swatted Lee's pointing hand away from his face and stated towards Sakura, "I clearly overheard Iruka-sensei asking the Hokage if Naruto was involved in all this and she nodded yes. Since you lied about him, then you should know what really happened to him, ne?" All eyes were on the pink-haired girl. Lee wanted to protest about her innocence, but Tenten gave him a look of warning. She also wanted to hear the younger girl's answer.

Sakura desperately tried to think of something to say. She felt that Naruto's disappearance was something that she shouldn't be talking about with others. Luckily, it was then that Kurenai appeared and said, "Oi, it's time to move out. We have one more stop before heading back to Konoha."

Thankfully, Sakura followed the jounin with the others trailing close behind them both. She knew that sooner or later, Kiba was going to question her again. Hopefully by then, she will have come up with something to tell him. Until that time, she could only go back to worrying about her teammates. _'Sasuke-kun, Naruto...please be ok.'_

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_Darkness... _

_So much darkness everywhere. But it wasn't an empty darkness. _

_No. _

_Something was prowling within, watching. Always watching. Always waiting. _

_Then the voice could be heard. A voice that taunted at odd moments. A voice that would always be there. A voice that warned that something was going to happen..._

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_-Keikoku no Maigo Tamashii , Earth Country-_

Naruto kicked at a tree. A tree that Yuri happened to be perched in, napping; though the kick startled her awake from her dream. At least, she thought it was dream. Realizing what he had done, the blond boy looked up towards her and gave her a sheepish look while he apologized, "Gomen, Yuri. I didn't mean to wake you up."

Straightening up a bit, she replied, "It's ok. I think I needed to wake up." She took a brief glance around, trying to remember where they were for a moment. The first thing she saw was a big rock. Standing next to the rock was Gaara, who appeared to be staring at something on the ground. Just a short distance behind Gaara and the big rock was the entrance to the canyons. Yuri finally remembered that Akuma-aniki had instructed them to wait just at the edge of the canyons while he went to scout ahead. Since she didn't get much sleep the night before, when they camped halfway down the mountain, she decided to take a short nap.

She guessed that she had been asleep for two hours at the most. Somehow, she was glad that Naruto woke her up. She was having the same dream that she had the night before. She didn't like the dream because she always hears _that_ voice. _It's_ voice. And she hated _It _because _It_ was the source of all her problems. _It_ being the Kuroneko, of course. She didn't tell Naruto and Gaara, but sometimes, the youkai inside her would talk to her. It would whisper things in her mind and no matter how hard she tried to make the voice go away, it wouldn't give her peace. Unconsciously, she raised her hand to touch a spot a few inches below her collar bone. On that spot, was a seal that was placed upon her when she was just an infant. (A/N: if you wanna know what the seal looks like, then just check it out on my deviant art page. the link is in my profile)

Noticing how distracted Yuri seemed to be, Naruto decided to go see what Gaara was doing. Approaching the redhead cautiously (cautious because of an earlier incident where he ran up to him and ended up with a face full of sand), Naruto asked curiously, "Ne, ne, what are you looking at, Gaara?" The older boy happened to be staring up at the sky. Why he was, Naruto didn't know, but he was curious about it.

"There's clouds."

The blond turns his face upwards and sees clouds, "So?"

"They weren't there before."

Naruto gave his companion a funny look, "So what? That's how clouds are. They appear and disappear like my ramen." Even though Naruto was the kind of person to have his head in the clouds didn't mean he was one to speculate on their presence.

Gaara stared up at the cloudy sky silently for a moment or two, then slowly moved his gaze to meet the younger boy's eyes, "These clouds are...wrong."

"Wrong?"

The leaf-nin glanced up at the sky again. Nothing looked wrong with them. They were grey and a bit low, but other than that, they just seemed like regular clouds. He looked back to the sand-nin, his face riddled with confusion.

"I've located the village," a deep voice suddenly said from behind Naruto, making the young boy yelp with surprise. When he swirled around, he found Akuma standing there with his magenta eyes peering eerily down at him. While the blond glared at the man for appearing so abruptly, Yuri lightly hopped off her tree and walked towards them.

Gaara merely glanced towards the older cloud-nin before looking away again. He still felt uneasy about their mission. Deep inside he could feel Shukaku's excitement. Though it was strange to think it, it almost felt as if the sand youkai was...snickering about something. The young sand-nin was not pleased at all.

After some brief instructions, they all donned some plain, brown cloaks and headed off into the entrance of the canyons. Akuma lead the young shinobi towards the heart of the canyons until they finally reached what appeared to be some old ruins at the base of a small plateau. The ruins weren't really much to look at. Just some fallen columns here and there, a few broken down buildings, and small shrine with an altar. There didn't seem to be anyone around, yet they all kept their guard up.

Akuma approached the shrine and felt around the back of the altar a bit before triggering a switch. He then stepped back as the altar moved to the side to reveal a set of steep steps leading underground. Without any hesitation, he preceded to walk down the steps. The three young ninja glanced at each other briefly before silently following. The steps lead them about a kilometer underground and at the base of the steps were a pair of large wooden doors. The older cloud-nin placed a hand on the one of the closed doors and murmured firmly, "Koketsu!"

As the doors swung open, Naruto could feel a strange sense of foreboding creeping up his spine. Within the seal, he knew Kyuubi was pacing impatiently within his cage. As they walked down a poorly lit tunnel, he shot a quick glance towards Gaara from under his hood. As usual, Gaara's expression was blank. So, the blond looked towards Yuri and his blue eyes took in the slightly uncomfortable look on her face. Before he had a chance to wonder about this whole 'mission', he could hear voices echoing around faintly. The voices became louder and louder as they approached the end of the tunnel.

Soon, they found themselves within a massive cave that connected to many tunnels and smaller caves. Looking around, they could see that the underground 'village' was lit up by some overhanging light bulbs here and there. Apparently they had some generators set up somewhere to provide them with a minimal amount of electricity. There were all kinds of people around. From bandits to mercenary samurai to even missing-nin. There were many small groups gathered here and there either gambling, arguing, drinking, and talking. All in all, it seemed like a seedy and dangerous place.

Naruto could feel many calculating gazes follow them as they headed towards one of the far tunnels in the back. He made sure not to have any eye contact with anyone and felt very relieved once they entered the second tunnel. They never noticed the two cloaked figures standing in the shadows. This tunnel was different from the one that led to the outside as it was smaller and seemed more like a hallway than anything else. After what seemed like fifteen minutes, they reached a thick door covered with many paper seals at the end of the tunnel.

Gaara found it highly suspicious how Akuma just merely opened the door without any problems. _'Why are there no guards?' _ He wondered as Yuri and Naruto blindly follow the older Cloud-nin in. After an annoyed look from Akuma, Gaara entered as well. Inside the room, they couldn't see a thing as it was pitch black darkness all around.

"Oi! Oi! I can't see anything! Someone turn on a light or something," Naruto complained.

Yuri, having the advantage of partial night vision via her neko youkai, glanced around. She noted that the two boys were standing right next to her. Gaara with a scowl on his face and Naruto squinting his eyes trying to see in the dark. She happened to glance at the ground and noticed something strange. _'That looks like...writing. That's odd...' _ It occurred to her then that the writing was part of some sort of seal and her and the two boys were standing on that seal. The door was shut silently. She turned her head to make a comment toward Akuma when she noticed him kneeling at the edge of the seal with both his hands on it. "Akuma-aniki, what are you d-"

"KAGIRU!"

The large seal on the ground lit up the whole room, revealing the fact that spread out about six feet in diameter. Chains burst through the ground and clamped themselves on the their ankles and wrists. To Gaara's confusion, his sand didn't leap to his defense, "N-nani!" He suddenly realized that he couldn't feel his chakra. The other two came to the same realization.

Yuri sent a confused and pleading look towards Akuma who just stared back at her coldly as he was forming seals rapidly with his hands. The three fell to their knees as the chains began to feel heavier with every seal the Cloud-nin formed. With the last seal, Akuma quietly said, "Maboroshi no jutsu."

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Naruto couldn't understand how they ended up trapped like this. Wasn't this Akuma guy supposed to be helping them? He felt a burning pain on his stomach that made him yelp out. Soon the burning intensified and before he passed out, he could only hope his friends would forgive his stupidly for leaving in the first place.

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Gaara was furious with himself. How could he have allowed something like to this to happen? What kind of jutsu was this to be able to seal his chakra to a point where his sand wouldn't even defend him anymore? He suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his head. A pain that was parallel to the kind he felt when Shukaku wanted to come out. What was going on? What will happen to them? His vision started to blur and he began to panic. He couldn't afford to pass out. The demon tanuki would come out and start to kill. But he couldn't fight the pain any longer and fell into unconsciousness.

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Yuri felt a crushing pain in her chest. Through pain-filled tears, she stared at Akuma. The one person she trusted the most in the world had betrayed her. She just couldn't comprehend why he would do such a thing to her and her newfound friends. Was this whole mission just a trap for them? Deep inside, she hoped that her eyes were just fooling her. That it wasn't her Akuma-aniki doing this to them, but some imposter instead. Or maybe that he was being controlled somehow. Yet as she looked into his cold magenta eyes, she could see the sharpness and clearness in them. There was no trick. No being controlled. Before she gave into the darkness, she uttered out weakly, "_Why_?"

No answer was given.

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**A/N:** This chapter didn't turn out quite like I first envisioned it to. I'm not even sure it makes any sense. Trust me, I gave this a lot of thought. I came up with dozens and dozens of scenarios and somehow I just ended up with this. I hope it's ok. Once again, I'm really sorry that it took me so long to update. I guess a lot things in life just caught up to me and I couldn't find time to work on the fic. Of course, by the time I did find time to work on it, the words just wouldn't come to me. Oh well, you all probably don't want to hear my excuses. On another note, thank you thank you thank you to everyone who reviewed. I'm in awe of all the reviews I received. All of you are totally sugoi! Whenever I felt like giving up on the fic, I would read the reviews and start trying to break down my writer's block and begin brainstorming. I'm really glad you people like this fic. It may not be quick, but I really will finish this story. Anyways, I hope this chappie wasn't too confusing and that you enjoyed reading it. Please do feel free to drop a review. I'm trying to work on the next chapter already while my creative juices are still flowing. Ja ne! 


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